Electrical Engineer - Building services Review

I really enjoyed my work placement as an Electrical Engineer in the Building Services Team at Arup Sheffield. The work was interesting and sometimes challenging as I was working on a high rise residential project in Liverpool. The work relied heavily on team work and communication with colleagues and clients which I found enjoyable.

I felt very valued by my colleagues at Arup as I was very heavily included in all of the meetings and events that took place while I was there. I really did feel part of the team. I took part in socials as well as meeting people from other teams at lunch time, it seemed like there was a good community spirit at Arup. My work was valued and used by my supervisor Anne and she helped me to improve it and gave me guidance.

I was given a lot of support and guidance while at Arup from my two supervisors from the Electrical team, [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions]. They were always giving me new jobs to do and advice on how to complete the tasks effectively, they were also always ready to take my questions. They both took me out on to site visits and to meetings in offices around the UK to give me the full picture of what it is like to be an electrical engineer at Arup.

On a daily basis I was moderately busy, with some gaps in work. Most days I would have about four tasks to complete that were usually the development of some kind of schematic for the project. For example the small power schematic. Sometimes it would be a bit slow when you were waiting for the architect to make some changes to their plans or for a different submission of work for you to develop.

During my placement I was given a reasonable amount of responsibility that was easy for me to manage without becoming stressful. On days when I was wanting more responsibility I would ask for it and be given it, so the amount of responsibility I undertook was decided by myself, depending on how much I wanted.

The placement helped me to understand how the work I do at university will be put into practice in the real working world. For example, how the calculations done in the office will be considered when deciding what materials to use on the project. The placement also helped me to develop professional skills in presentations and networking when I was contributing to meetings.

The atmosphere in the office at Arup was very friendly but still professional. They have a policy if hot desking where you can sit at a different desk everyday which encourages people to move around and socialise with different people. It also means the director of the office sits in a similar desk to you and not tucked away in a private office which makes the atmosphere seem very friendly and welcoming. Anyone is prepared to talk to you or even make you a cup of tea! The office was very stylish and modern with breakout areas where you could take a break or do some work in a different setting.

Overall the placement was well organised with my last day falling on a submission deadline so I could get familiar with the lead up to a deadline and the stresses that come with this. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] both had plans for me to take me with them to meetings and such which I thought was very well organised. The only problem was with getting me onto the computer system, it took a few days which meant I couldn't access some areas but this was down to the only HR employee in the office being on holiday when I started.

The company invested a lot in me and gave me quite a lot of responsibility and training. I completed a set of online training when I first started that was to the standard of the graduate programme. I also got a health and safety briefing to prepare me for my site visits. While on my placement a observed that Arup invests a lot in their staff with regards to training as there was a sketch course that my supervisor Anne attended along with many others in the office to help the staff to learn how to sketch well enough to explain their ideas to clients on paper, this seemed very useful to me.

Working at Arup in the future is a very appealing prospect to me. The work was interesting with a great team of colleagues providing constant support. The office was a very friendly working environment which is important to me. The work at hand give you the chance to be involved in some of the most prestigious new building projects both in the UK and overseas.

There was a really good social scene with people staying for drinks every Friday night after work with the company providing the full fridge of drinks. This showed that Arup supported the idea of having good relationships with colleagues. People often organised socials like trips to the pub and restaurants which always had a good turn out. I was lucky enough to be doing my placement when the Sheffield office had it's 60th anniversary celebration with a party in the office. They had free drinks and food as well as games. Even a cake in the shape of the famous Park Hill flats in Sheffield which was the first project that the Arup Sheffield office was commissioned on.

Sheffield is a great city to live in and as of cost it it fairly cheap. My rent including bills was around £90 a week. While I was spending around £50 on food and going out. I lived in Crookesmoor and it was a 30 minute walk to the office or a 10 minute bus journey with the bus being £1 for a student ticket.

The nightlife in Sheffield is great there is really something for everyone. There are plenty of real ale pubs around where I was living as well as in the city centre. West Street is notorious for bars and the drinks are cheap. There are plenty of clubs to go to. Kelham Island is an upcoming area in Sheffield with loads of cool bars and restaurants opening but also retaining its traditional pubs.

There was organised sports activities alongside the many drinking socials. On Tuesday nights you could attend yoga classes to de-stress after work held upstairs in one of the meeting rooms, there was also a group of people who went climbing together and the football team was very popular. While I was there the football team competed in an Arup wide competition held in Amsterdam against other offices and it was very successful! I'm sure if there was something you were passionate about that they didn't already offer Arup wold give you support in organising it.