Undergraduate Engineer Review

I worked in Special Vehicle Operations and thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I got to work on interesting projects as well as experience more practical work such as NVH testing. I also got to visit and see a lot of the sites and facilities such as the design studios and safety testing facilities.

My team was very welcoming and friendly. If I had any questions or needed help on anything they were always happy to help and give advice.

All managers at JLR have very busy working lives. However, if I approached my manager to have a one-to-one meeting he would always make time for me. He would always ask if I was happy with the work I have been doing and if there was anything else I wanted to experience doing during my time here.

Most days I had something to work on, however when there were still days where I didn't have much to do. However, this was mainly due to having to rely on other employees to complete something or reply to an email, before being able to continue working on the project. If this was the case you could always ask to assist other members of the team with their work.

Not as much as I had hoped for, however I was still given important tasks to do throughout my placement. It is understandably hard to give huge amounts of responsibility to a 3-month intern. My first 1-2 months I was mainly working on smaller projects as well as attending training courses so I would be able to use different software and systems for my future work.

I attended many valuable training courses whilst on placement which helped develop my technical skills as well as knowledge and understanding of the JLR systems. I was able to learn a new how to use a new CAD viewing software as well as navigate through many different JLR systems for releasing parts and checking part requirements. I also attended a FMA course which will be useful in my future studies as I will need to do these in my degree work.

Many Special Vehicle Operations teams are in their own building at the Gaydon site. Although the office uses a "hot desk" system, teams sat in designated areas and therefore you would always be sat together. There are many teams on the same floor which made it easy to find other team members if you needed to speak to them. The office has a good cheerful atmosphere and teams can have a laugh while they are working. Also, getting to know the other undergrads who are working in the same building meant that I could always go over for a quick chat if I needed a break.

When I started my placement I had a meeting with my manager and another team member about a project I would be working on for my placement. However, after the first week of my placement, it was found out that the project could not take the direction that my manager had intended. This meant work on the project was not able to be continued by myself. This meant that for the rest of my placement I didn't have my own project to work on, however I was still given plenty of tasks to do to assist my team.

I attended many training courses to assist me with my role. There is a wide range of courses available which you could sign up to if they were relevant for your role. JLR also have monthly IMechE walk-in sessions where representatives of IMechE come in and talk to you about how you can become chartered etc. There were also specific sessions just for undergraduates to attend where we could ask any questions about how our placement experience here could count towards becoming chartered or Eng Tech. This is my second placement at JLR, after my first placement I was able to become accredited as an Eng Tech, which was only able to be done through the support of the JLR IMechE sessions. JLR do invest in their undergrads with training and Chartership support.

If you perform well enough during your placement then you will be offered either another placement (if you are not about to go into your last year of university) or a place on the gradscheme.

Yes there is a large undergraduate community within JLR. After you have been accepted the offer you are all put in a facebook group so you can arrange to meet other undergrads before starting to work here. For summer placements there is usually a 3-month placement group set up as well. The majority of 3 month placement students live in Liberty Point (Coventry university halls). There were lots of social events organised as we all lived together which made the placement experience really enjoyable.

The cost of living in Coventry was reasonably cheap, the cost per week of living in Liberty Point was £90 with all bills included. Your room and kitchen also get cleaned every week. Living in a very student orientated location meant that there are plenty of student bars and clubs to go to. So there were plenty of places to go to socialise.

There are plenty of places in Coventry and Leamington Spa to go for a night out. A large group of Liberty Point placement students would tend to go out in Coventry every Friday as well as pub sessions after work in the week. There are also loads of student bars around which have great student prices.

There were events organised by the undergrads at Liberty Point throughout the 3 months such as 5 aside football. Additionally, depending on the hours you work (majority come back by 4-4:30) most people had time in the evenings to do things such as go to the gym or just so out with other placement students.