I.T Analyst Placement Student Review

As I have given as feedback to my colleagues and supervisors I truly believe this was the best placement I could of gotten. I was given a lot of responsibility as well as many opportunities to exercise skills I gained at university. In my time here I have developed unparalleled communication skills and truly how to be part of a team. The work was busy and very intense and demanding in terms of results, this only motivated me succeed and prove to people I can handle the work load and pressures of a real business working environment. I cannot thank Caterpillar enough for this opportunity.

I felt massively valued in a lot of aspects. My colleague was very supportive as well as grateful for my work and enthusiasm. He would recognise this to me at the end of a busy week or directly to the facility general manager which was very much appreciated. My supervisor also appreciated my efforts and would tell me I did a job well done, this would often come at our monthly one to one meetings, even though it is difficult to manage or appreciate someone's work remotely like my supervisor had to do I still felt highly valued.

Regardless of the situation I could also rely on someone supporting me. This came in the form of guidance on providing a solution to the business or when dealing with difficult users as well. I had my first line and if he was unavailable then my supervisor or my colleagues. There was always someone I could go to and I never felt like I was dealing with the issue alone. This obviously helps immensely when dealing with production issues or high priority tasks.

Very busy. I could probably count on my two hands the number of days I didn't feel busy or constantly doing a piece of work. Sometimes it felt overwhelming but it was great experience for myself to learn from those experiences that I will take forward into my final year at university and into my professional career. I would always prefer to be too busy than bored however I do feel for placement students I had a very large workload.

Someone told me before I started that this placement is going to be what you make it. I wanted responsibility, I wanted to help in any avenue I possible could and this gave me a much broader experience to most other CAT placement students. I have had exposure to systems and other areas of the business others have not, for instance our production database. I am responsible for the data in there as well.

I have been able to transition my skills already developed in the work placement to my final report I am writing for university. I have learned probably more than anything else more about people skills. This is absolutely VITAL in working in an office, at the end of the day people will be more open and likely to work with you collaborate with you etc if you have a friendly and good attitude about work. I hope I have demonstrated that in my time here.

Pleasant. I enjoyed pretty much everyday! It was filled with many laughs and good business conversations. I never felt uncomfortable or out of place I truly felt as though I was part of the team and that goes a long way when I will look back on my time here. The work I got to do will be number 1 and second will be the friendly staff that welcomed me with open arms and who I will genuinely miss a lot.

I think this aspect could be better managed. I had no idea who I was meeting with upon arrival or who I was working with until I got there. I think this aspect could be managed slightly better. Caterpillar Wimborne were also in an unusual position of facility re-building and that meant they had two building on lease. This made me rather confused on my first day although will not be an issue for future students. The actual work itself as well could be better managed. I feel like I am told not to do certain things or do things a certain way but the overarching factor for doing work is help the business so If they need my help I can't wait for someone at the facility to raise a ticket with the helpdesk for them to eventually assign it to me and then for me to fix it, when I could take the call myself and start finding a solution ASAP.

I had access to an online library of self learning courses, this provided a lot of opportunity to develop technical skills of which I intend to use to further my abilities. In other aspects cost reductions and savings were much of a priority for Caterpillar due to a current down trend in business so I imagine in the future as business picks up there would be more avenues for growth etc.

I would love to receive a grad job with Caterpillar, however due to the current financial situation CAT are in I do not see or do not have visibility of promotions of career growth within CAT. IT specifically in Caterpillar appears to be diminishing and at least appears they are looking to outsource support contracts. However my supervisor did tell me that If CAT were to bring back the grad scheme for IT jobs that I would certainly be on that list which is encouraging to hear I just hope that I get given that opportunity to work for this great company going forward.

I was pretty much in daily contact with one of the other placement students and we all got a long very well when we were on a conference call together. We all understood where we came from when discussing issues or needed help with tickets. I enjoyed collaborating with them and hope to stay in contact beyond this placement. They were a great bunch of students and I wish them all the best for the future.

The socialising aspect I did not really participate in too much. Plus I moved from Scotland to England and did not know anyone. The staff were lovely but the majority of them were adults with wifes or children etc. The apprentices did ask me to go out but personally clubbing is not my thing. The cost of living was high as Wimborne is next to the beach and is often much more expensive to rent, live etc. Luckily my parents help fund my flat deposit and initial costs but not everyone will have that and is something they may wish to look into for future students.

This is more personal choice rather than It did not exist. I do not enjoy clubbing and do not drink so those activities aren't really my idea of fun. However I have been invited many times and would choose to hangout out with them the nightlife of an area does not interest me. There are many nice restaurants and areas to visit in saying that.

YES! we have a very dedicated charities team here at CAT Wimborne which translated to charity nights out, bowling nights and go karting to name a few. These are some amazingly fun opportunities to get to know your colleagues better while also doing it for a good cause. I would recommend getting involved if you can and of course want to.