Manufacturing Technology Engineer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year. As my first real job, it allowed me to learn a lot about working in industry and I have a much better understanding of what sort of job I want when I graduate. I developed my skillset more on my placement year than I had done in 3 years of university and will have a much easier time applying for graduate jobs with all the experience I gained. The work was challenging and stimulating and 3M had a really positive and supporting environment. There was also a big focus on work-life balance so overall the year was very enjoyable.

Despite being a placement student with no prior experience, I was treated as a full employee. I was given responsibility over meaningful projects that were of importance to the company and my colleagues took an interest in what I had to say in discussions and meetings. People with more experience would ask for my input when problems arose in my area and I was trusted to lead investigations that were required to release product for sale.

The level of support received was excellent from day one. I had a two and a half week handover period with the placement student that I was replacing which was very useful in helping me get started. My supervisor was very supportive throughout the year and set aside time to go through any new processes with me. Throughout the year she always made time to talk if I needed help with anything and we had a formal meeting every month to track my progress and look at development opportunities.

Working in a production environment, the level of work varied depending on how smoothly things were running in the factory. When things were quiet, I had the freedom to pursue my own projects and look for continuous improvement opportunities so I was not ever left with nothing to be getting on with. At times the workload could get quite high if lots of problems arose and if these coincided with project deadlines but there was lots of support so tasks could be delegated if needed.

A lot. I was treated as a full employee and given responsibility over quality investigations that could prevent product from being released for sale. I was also given the opportunity to lead improvement projects that were vital to help the production lines reach their targets. More experienced engineers were happy passing on projects or trials if they were going to be absent and the production leaders valued my input when making decisions.

They will help a great deal. I developed many key skills such as communication and teamwork as well as developing my technical knowledge. I was able to work on projects that not only enhanced my skills but gave me great examples that I can use to show how I have demonstrated these skills in interviews. I have no doubt that my final year of university will be much easier thanks to my placement year and I am far more employable so it will definitely help me to find a graduate job.

The office I worked in was quite quiet. The people were all very friendly and more than willing to provide support if I had any queries but for the most part people would get on with their work. Personally I liked this as it provided a nice atmosphere to work in where you could focus and be more productive.

There were some delays at the beginning of the placement such as waiting for a laptop and safety shoes to arrive. Apart from that I feel the placement was organised very well. Projects had been selected for me to work on and there was a clear set of objectives and expectations. There was also a development programme for all the placement students from the various sites around the united kingdom to network and attend training and development courses as well as working on a project together.

The company invested a lot in training and development. They encourage you to make a development plan to highlight areas of improvement and there are a wide range of training courses throughout the year from technical skills to personal awareness. My supervisor was very supportive of training and had no problems with me attending any training courses that I liked the sound of. Some training required me to travel and the company provided a hire car as well as a hotel if I needed to stay overnight.

Based on the experience I had, I would be interested in graduate roles that the company has to offer. There is a graduate scheme run by the company in a very similar role to the one I had on my placement year. Hence, I fell that I would have a very good chance of securing a spot on that due to all the skills I developed on my placement year.

There were 3 placement students at the site I was at as well as some recent graduates. We all got along very well and socialised outside of work quite regularly. ~There was also a large group of people that got together after work during the week to play football at the 3M sports ground which was a very positive enjoyable.

It was quite cheap compared to what I was used to in the South of England. Accommodation was £92 a week for a very large room and all the bills included. This was part of a house share with other students form the area. Socialising was also quite cheap with the local cinema only costing £4 for a ticket. Bars and pubs were a bit cheaper than the South of England.

There is a large university in the town so there was no shortage of people my age to socialise with. there were a range of bars and clubs in town and the university had a very good student union and multiple clubs on campus. It is also close to Nottingham and Leicester if you want a change of scenery.

There were quite a few different things to get involved with in the town. There are multiple gyms and lots of different sports clubs ranging from football to martial arts. there is a nice market in the town centre where you could get a range of nice ingredients at very good prices.