Current Product Support Engineer Review

Overall I have enjoyed the placement and it's been a huge learning experience for me. It has taken me out of my comfort zone and put me in exciting and challenging situations, which has helped me grow and develop as a person. There were parts of it that I have enjoyed less than others but that is more role related and in no way reflects badly on the company I have been employed with.

My colleagues held me in high regard, I was respected as another member of the team and not some student here who doesn't know what they're doing and can't be given any responsibility. I was treated as an equal, full time employee and given the same responsibilities, and expected to carry the same accountability for the work that I did.

Fortunately, my manager was sat across from me and was constantly available for support and guidance. I also had a mentor assigned to me through the MPDS scheme that was run jointly by Cummins and the IMecheE. I had weekly 1:1 meetings with my immediate manager to check on how I was doing as a person as well as how I was doing with my workload and any areas that I was struggling with.

This fluctuates a bit from my experience. You have quieter days and you have busier days. When I first started out, because of the lack of knowledge on systems and my capability there wasn't much that I could do independently. However, as time has gone on, the amount that I could do independently increased and I've got a lot of work currently to keep me busy, there is always something to be working on at the moment.

I was given the same amount of responsibility as other members of the team, I was given projects to work on that would be given to other employees. At Cummins you are treated like a permanent employee rather than just a student here to make tea. I was given responsibility to be able to leave my desk for projects and research without my manager asking where I'd been or where I was going, I was left to get on with the job at hand.

In terms of my degree, I feel like I will have lost a lot of what I learned in first and second year regarding some of my modules. I have used some of the knowledge that I learned in these first two years in placement and so these will be stronger returning to university. More importantly though I have built life skills which will be used far beyond university, such as communication skills, organisational skills and other skills that seem basic but are key to success in any industry, these skills have been nurtured by the company and will stand me in good stead in whatever business I go in to in the future.

The general atmosphere was relaxed but productive. It was an open environment where you could ask people questions or for help on specific projects and nine times out of ten they would be in a position to help you there and then. There were always people having birthdays as well and bringing in cakes and nibbles. There were cake sales for charity and quizzes at Christmas and things like that going on throughout the year too.

The actual placement itself was good once I had arrived in plant. Cummins have been doing placements for years and it was clear where to go and what to do and what was expected of me. The only downside was that they didn't really help you find somewhere to live. One of the students had to set up a facebook group with all of us in it and then people just grouped themselves together and found houses with each other, a bit daunting moving in to live with someone that you'd only met on facebook. This may be true across the board though. Apart from that it was set up well with good support systems in place and good routines for what was expected.

I was given lots of training and informative courses when I first arrived at the company and they have continued to maintain this throughout the year. My direct manager recognises that I am here for the year to learn as much as I can and have been permitted on training courses which are outside the main scope of my role but are interesting to me.

I think it would be naïve to answer this question having only got experience of one sector of one company across an industry that has numerous different employers and opportunities but from what I've seen I enjoy the company. The hours are good, the pay is competitive and there are numerous opportunities around the world with Cummins. I would definitely consider returning to the company after my degree.

The social side was good because there were around 30 placement students here at the company this year. There was always something going on, whether it was a night out organised by the placement students or a company organised event such as paintballing or go karting. There was a five a side football session after work on Wednesday and one of the colleagues organised a squash tournament throughout the year for the building.

The house that I lived in with three other people for the year was perfect for us in terms of price. We got really lucky in terms of price for what we rented and it was in a nice new-ish house rather than a typical student house. The nightlife wasn't expensive either and general cost of living prices were okay. We were still registered at the university so didn't pay council tax and being in paid, full time employment after living off student loans for two years made a huge difference.

Nightlife was good, Daventry is not known for it's nightlife but we took trips to Northampton which has more of a student nightlife and occasionally Rugby which has a few pubs and a couple of clubs.

I joined a local hockey team and trained with them as well as playing matches on the weekend. I also joined the gym in Rugby which was a 10 second walk from where we lived so was ideal and as such I had no excuse not to go(!) I also joined a church that held various activities throughout the year and always had something going on. I also met with a couple of other guys from the church once a week for a meal and a catch up.