Undergraduate Engineer Review

I really enjoyed working at Caterpillar. It has a really relaxed feel in the office and you get really good exposure to what life as an engineer can be like by getting involved in real projects where you see directly how your work affects the projects. As well as having a large number of other placement students around helping to create a fun working environment.

Because of the nature of the work I got involved I felt like I was part of the team. I was given projects and deadlines that people were relying on me to meet to move forward and achieve goals. Also throughout the placement I've been involved in out of work events like team meals.

The support was plentiful with everyone being eager to help me learn and settle in. Everyone on the team was very approachable and happy to give up their time to help out with any issues, concerns or general questions I had. Regular desk reviews with both my placement supervisor and team leader made sure I had the opportunity to speak up about how I was getting on.

The work load varied as it would with any job. But the placement really is what you make of it. If at any point I was to find myself low on work all I had to do was mention this to someone in my team as there was always work to be done. it was just a matter of letting people know your available to help.

The level of responsibility varied from project to project but I was surprised with the amount of responsibility I was given on some things. I was given my own engine test bed to manage after a relatively short time with the performance team so it was very much learning in the deep end. That being said people understood that I was new to it and were constantly checking up on me and always there to help out when I needed it.

Being able to apply some of the knowledge from my degree has helped me massively. I'm very much a practical learner so seeing some of the theory in action has strengthened my understanding in some areas. I think it will really benefit me when i do return to studying as I'll have already applied some of the principles in work that I'll be studying.

The atmosphere in the office was really relaxed and everyone seemed really happy and comfortable in the office. The flexi-time work culture also was really nice which allowed me to peruse extra curricular activities in the evenings. There was never a shortage of cake in the office too which is usually left out for some one on a birthday or significant event but also as a punishment (I once left my laptop unlocked over night so had to bring in cakes for redemption)

Caterpillar has been doing placements for years so they really know what they're doing. you're given continuous support from your team leaders and also a placement supervisor who organises training and additional learning opportunities to make sure you get the most out of your placement. As well as this there's a number of Young Engineering bodies in Caterpillar that organise social and networking events for placements and graduates.

I feel like the company has invested quite a lot in developing the myself and other placements offering us training various training courses, qualification opportunities and learning resources even if they're not directly applied to out job roles. This has been massively beneficial as 12 months is not enough time to get a popper insight into the whole company but these train course definitely help.

from what I've learnt and seen this year, I find the graduate scheme here very appealing. The company seems to really care about developing employees and are keen to allow employees to gain experience in various areas of the business to develop them into more rounded professionals. Also the company offers a lot of support for people wishing to pursue chartership status.

The social scene with placement students is pretty good. There's usually something on at weekends or sports teams and other events during the week. As there's a large group of us here it's not hard to find people to organise events and nights out with. All of the placements come from a range of backgrounds and get on really well so its a nice environment to be in.

Peterborough is a really cheap place to live in. staying in Peterborough you can save loads of money compared to uni or closed to London. There's a lot of pubs about as well as some nice restaurants, awesome cinema, bowling, dog races and golf courses to name a few things you can get up to, none of which will break the bank.

The nightlife in Peterborough ins't the best there's only actually one club but its fairly big. There is however loads of bars and pubs so you can get a great pub crawl in. Although saying that the nightlife isn't the best might be a bit harsh, I haven't actually been on a night out that I haven't got ridiculous hilarious stories from.

There's plenty of opportunities to get involved in outside of work. Be it sports, meals, bowling, go-karting. If there's something you want to do it wont be hard to find. I played basketball at Uni and found a local team in Peterborough to play with for the year. I also took up rowing at the local club. It's a decent place to be if you want to get involved in things outside of work.