Test and Performance Engineer Review

A Placement year is a lot different to your time at university. You are able to have a healthy work-life balance. I have been able to apply the knowledge and theory learnt whilst at university to real world problems and follow through to a solution. Being on placement has improved my engineering knowledge as well as practical skills.

Colleagues at Caterpillar Peterlee are always happy to help to guide and support. Throughout my time at Caterpillar I was treated as a full time employee and valued by my colleagues. Colleague take into consideration and understand that a lac of knowledge in areas will occur but are willing to guide when appropriate.

During my time I had two different managers with two completely different approach to supporting their colleagues. My second manager was very knowledgeable in his field and willing to guide and support during my time as a part of his department. The guidance I received either direct/indirect from my manager was always supportive of my current project within the department, with the unavailability of my manager my colleagues were always there for a secondary opinion.

My work load varied on a daily basis. Some days were slow but others has the perfect amount of knowledge gaining. When work was quiet in the department I was able to further my knowledge with the Trucks and gain more practical skills.

During my time on placement I was given the lead role on a number of High Priority tasks. I enjoyed having the pressure and responsibility of the expectance fro other colleagues to deliver the required work on time. Being a lead role in a number of High Priority work enabled me to gain more self confidence in my own ability.

The skills gained this year has enabled me to learn how to apply theoretical issues to a real world problem. I will be able to return to university having a better understanding and a broader knowledge into engineering, intern this will aid in my development to the future.

Depending on the office on site the atmosphere often changed. There was always a time for a laugh and a joke but also time for substantial amount of work to be completed. The working environment was a friendly and generally happy space, due to the open office policy it was easy to communicate between colleagues.

Due to only being two placement students at the facility no placement rotation scheme was in place. When first starting at the company you are placed with in a specific department for the entirety of the placement year, although due to me expressing my interest in other Engineering sections at Caterpillar Peterlee I was given the opportunity to intern in another department.

I was given the general induction and training programmes that Graduates are introduced to, some training courses were unavailable to myself due to the amount of time I will spend at the company wont be enough to complete the training.

Future Employment within the organisation are looking positive. Being involved with such a diverse and international company gives endless opportunities for the future.

Due to only being a small amount of placement and graduate students at Peterlee, It was an often occurrence that we wold work on similar projects. A number of placement and graduate students have nights out and join in with activities outside the work place.

Cost of renting a house was quite reasonable. I made the decision of living in Durham due to it being my first time up in the North East, this gave me a 20min drive into work every morning. If you have access to a vehicle a number of placement and graduate students live in and around Durham and Newcastle for the night life. The cost of a night out can vary depending on the depth of your pockets, a cheap night out is feasible but it is possible to have an extravagant wine and dine night out as well.

Night life in Peterlee it self was ok, there are a number of pubs and a night club. For a bigger and better night out there is a number of cities such as Sunderland, Durham and Newcastle which are only a Cab ride away. A number of work night outs were also organised in Durham during my time here.

There are a number of opportunities to get involved in whether its at the gym or joining a society at Durham or Newcastle Universities, the opportunities are endless.