Power System Assistant Engineer Review

I really enjoyed my work placement; In fact I would even stretch to saying it was the best year of my life so far. I was free from education and could apply what I had learnt from my studies and life experience. Although my work life balance suffered slightly, I enjoyed what I was doing day to day. I found what I was good at, enjoyed and got paid for.

I felt quite values by my colleagues for a variety of reasons. Firstly, they trusted my judgement and decision making skills. Secondly, I felt included and one of them, not like a placement student. In fact, so many did not know that I was an industrial placement student, but thought i was an ordinary employee.

The support and guidance was very good. I was able to ask other people in the same office if I was stuck on something. I had a training booklet that described what was required of me and the steps i needed to take to get myself to the required level. This was re-enforced by formal training run for other engineers that I was able to partake in. My managers were both willing to allow me to gain system appreciation on trips out of the office.

I was incredibly busy, always doing something, most of the time it was something interesting. To a certain extent I was able to set my own workload that I was comfortable with. The work was generally quite varied, enough to keep me interest, but not too varied to disinterest me. If I felt bored, I knew who to ask and they were able to advise me on what I could do.

I felt as though I was given lots of responsibility and treated as a normal employee. Don't listen to your friends when they say you will be making the tea, as this is simply not true. I was tasked with looking after an area under supervision from my mentors. This involved building a good working relationship with external customers, and liaising with them on a regular business.

I was able to improve on my independent learning and networking skills. Instead of being spoon fed information, I had to go searching for it. I think this will help me in completing my studies and in life in general, as you are generally not handed everything on a plate.

Busy, Banterous.

This forms the only negative point in the review. Although we were given information sheets on where to live and what areas to avoid, we had to rely on ourselves to set up our own accommodation be that in groups or independently. Although there is a steep learning curve, I felt that It wouldn't be so bad if it was subsidised in some way. Although the graduates receive an accommodation allowance, students that are paid less do not. You do however have to take a holistic view and you could argue that as we are council tax exempt, this would offset this. But working the whole summer and spending that on estate agents fees is a very bitter pill to swallow. This is my only real negative point and I felt that most other things ran relatively smoothly.

I felt that the company invested significant time and money in my personal development. Personal development ranks high within the company's aims and objectives. I was able to participate in training seminars, site visits and mentoring sessions with my line manager. This was reinforced with a bespoke training booklet designed just for me. Regular performance meetings pointed me in the right direction to improve my soft skills.

Very appealing, I intend to return to the organisation upon completion of my degree. Because the company is so large, there are many opportunities to get involved in many different areas. If you feel that a particular area or job does not interest you, you are able to move around the company.

Yes, between us we organised several trips to power stations, different sites and the occasional night out. It allowed us to bond as a group and network so if we had any questions about each others business areas we knew who to go and ask. There was such a good network that it made the placement year more enjoyable because everyone looked out for each other.

The cost of living was really high and when on an internship salary I was unable to save any significant cash.

Nightlife is not of interest to me therefore I have allocated a default of 5/10.

yes.