Engineering placement student Review

I have and still am enjoying my placement with Caterpillar. I feel that working here I have been given a great preview of what the world of engineering is like inside of a big company. Talking with fellow students on placements with other companies I really feel I have come out on top by being with Caterpillar.

I did feel valued by my colleagues and got the impression that I was helping rather than hindering on projects. I attend meetings and my opinion is listened to when presented. Whilst working on projects with big or small teams I have always felt part of the team and have enjoyed working alongside some very smart individuals.

I was given support and guidance when and where I needed it. If I was struggling with a project I was given help where needed. I was surprised how willing everyone was to help when I would approach them to ask for help. Even individuals that were clearly busy would always find time to help me out where needed. This made me feel happy to approach people rather than struggle alone.

I was never short of work and always had work to be getting on with. I was loaded up with projects (in a good way) by various managers which had projects or tasks they would like to see explored. This made me feel valued as a member of the team as I was approached with specific issues that needed solving.

I was given as much responsibility that a placement student should receive. I was given the chance to lead a low level project from a failed concept to a new concept of my own. This was a great learning experience, taking the project from a test model to a working prototype was very fulfilling on my part.

I have found the skills I have learnt directly and indirectly to be priceless. I have learnt some skills in areas I never knew existed in terms of procedure courses and standards as well as subtle skills such as meeting procedures and professional social interaction. Being part of a bigger machine has shown me skills in project planning and leading which will benefit me greatly when I return to university.

I enjoyed the general atmosphere in the office. I found this to be the right level or professional work mixed in with the odd light hearted joke or conversation to break up the day nicely. There was always a good air to the atmosphere with people generally being pleasant and smiling, more so on Fridays than Mondays.

I generally found that everything was organised when it needed to be, if anything ever needed questioning then there was always someone in HR or a manager that could answer or organise it. Additional courses were offered and as a placement student I felt pushed (in the right way) into attaining these courses which proved invaluable.

Development was a part of every meeting and every project. All areas of involvement lead to me developing further as a person and an engineer. I was sent on many training courses to help me develop further as an engineer for Caterpillar. I was enrolled on the ImechE MPDS scheme at Caterpillars expense which is again another great opportunity normally self-funded.

I would very much like to come back and work for Caterpillar if I was given the opportunity. The graduate scheme gives a more in depth rotation based spread of the companies departments giving a greater coverage of future departments.

The HR team, fellow placement students and graduates made a great effort to welcome me into the company. Monthly/weekly events would be organised for people to come along to if they wanted, these ranged from rounders to kayaking.

I moved up from the south coast and found that the cost of living was much much lower than I was used to. This was great and I felt that I was able to comfortably live and enjoy myself outside of work. The cost of living and socialising in the city centres are standard prices depending on where you want to go. London prices in Birmingham city centre etc.

The nightlife was good and often people would go out at weekends or for Birthdays, I didn't tend to go out too much but when I did it was a good night.

There is plenty to see and do around with Leicester and Birmingham being fairly close. Whichever direction you wanted to travel you could always find something to do that would suit you.