Undergraduate Engineer Review

I enjoyed my placement a fair amount. I found it difficult for a number of reasons outside John Sisk's control, such as difficulty living alone away from friends and family. I think that the knowledge I have gained is priceless and will always be useful in my career. At times the placement would have been more enjoyable if I had been given more to do (and more direct civil engineering tasks at that), but the team on site were all incredibly friendly and I respect the fact that due to the stage the project was at there was a lot of snagging to be done and less civil engineering work. I found it very rewarding to see the progress on site as the placement went by.

Initially, I did not feel particularly valued by my colleagues (nor the opposite, just average). However, the longer the placement went on the more my colleagues understood my role and the responsibilities that I could help them with. This enabled me to be a more valuable member of the team, and I was even asked if I would be able to extend the length of my placement. I also got closer to everyone on site as time went by and was quite sad to leave.

During the placement, I was under the guidance of an engineer who was currently on the graduate program of John Sisk. He was very helpful and would explain anything to me that I asked. He also helped me to learn how to use equipment and make my way around the site with confidence. The site managers were also very helpful when I did odd jobs for them, explaining how their jobs worked and what the work I was helping with meant in the bigger picture.

Whilst working on the site I had to ask to be given work to do fairly regularly, and there were some days where I was given nothing to do at all. This would be mixed in with being asked to undertake surveys or odd engineering jobs so that I was very busy for a short period of time. I think the placement would be improved by having someone who is designated to give the student work, as I felt that for the majority of the time I was just reliant on something coming up that I could help with.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility. For example, I was in charge of completing the site inductions with the biometric measures. I would be responsible for dealing with anyone that came into the office with queries about the system. I also would be given responsibility by being given tasks to complete on my own without supervision, and the results of my work would be trusted without doubt.

I think the skills I developed on site will be invaluable to my future studies. I am now well versed with surveying which is a key component of my degree. As I study civil engineering, I think that without site experience a lot of the things that you learn don't necessarily make sense until you see them in person and gain that understanding how the logistical side of things can impact upon the design.

The general atmosphere in the office was informal and very humorous, and there were many fun times that happened in the office. This was one of the best parts of the placement. There was a good routine about lunch and breaks that was easy to follow, and I was greatful that everyone was very friendly and welcoming even though I can be a bit shy. Despite the fun atmosphere, everyone was highly competent at their jobs and worked hard, which was good to see.

I think the placement was really well organised. John Sisk were able to accommodate me when I could no longer start on my original start date, and it was nice to be able to attend a company induction as well as a personal one at the office in Solihull. Starting on my first day went smoothly, and I had no issues with finding out where I was going to work and signing the contract etc. I also appreciated being able to select the length of my placement, ranging between 8-12 weeks, rather than there being fixed dates.

The firm did provide a lot of learning for me throughout the placement, but I did not attend any extra courses or anything throughout my time on site. However, I think this is fair considering that I spent only 10 weeks with the company. I was offered training for RAMS but was too busy on the day to take advantage of the offer.

Future employment prospects within the organisation are appealing due to their high-class graduate scheme that operates within the UK and Ireland. As I got to see what the grad scheme students do when I was on site, it seemed like an appealing option. The graduate students seem to receive a lot of training and can reach their full potential.

Not really. I only got to meet the other placement students once at induction, and so didn't really get the chance to know any fellow placement students. My office was also not particularly sociable outside work due to the fact that most employees lived quite far from the site so would just want to get home after work.I think that they do occasionally have nights out but none fell during the time that I was there.

The cost of living was decent due to being in the north of England. It was also a good area for exploring when I had friends and family come to visit me.

Only experienced it once but there are lots of bars and clubs.

There were a few opportunities but nothing that was suitable to me due to the fixed length of my work with the company.