This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
-
The Company
-
The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I found the people there very caring and welcoming, everyone’s willing to help you and very polite. However, the work load was repetitive and boring, and I found it only required a small range of skills. I would have preferred the opportunity to gain a broader range of skills, by working on a larger variety of projects, that were a little more challenging.
My colleagues were very welcoming from the start. I never felt like I was asking stupid questions or making a fool of myself. However, some of my meetings were forgotten about or deemed not important enough for some, which definitely made me feel like I was just the placement student.
My manager and supervisor helped me when they could though they were often very busy. When they couldn’t help me everyone else on the team was more than happy to step in and give me a hand. Everyone on the team looks out for the placement students and supports them.
I almost always had work to do, but often it was very repetitive and slow. Deadlines are often very relaxed, and although this made life less stressful I found it difficult to motivate myself to work. I would have like to have had more regular progress meetings, helping me to learn which projects were critical to the company.
I was responsible for a range of projects over the year. I had a couple of larger projects and did a lot of odd jobs on the side. I found it hard to progress these larger jobs and so filled my time with smaller repetitive jobs. This made my year go by very slowly.
I think a lot of the skill will be transferable to my next year of uni. I can now confidently produce engineering drawings and loads of experience with quality management. I also gained a lot of knowledge on health and safety in the lab, which I will obviously be using in the future.
The Company
Some days it was quite but more than often it was bubbly, fun and relaxed. At Christmas the students fill the office with decorations. Throughout the year there always a sports or music quiz going on or a decision of the latest episode of GoT or Westworld! Oh and there’s a lot of cake consumed for everyone’s birthdays.
At the start of the placement there is a 2-week hand over period, this involves the previous student showing you the ropes. This was organised well, however some of the forms my uni required for my placement had been filled in with conflicting data. Because of this I was prevented from using the lab and ultimately stopped me from doing my work. This was really impacted my experience with the company.
I participated in a health and safety course midway through the year, but that’s about it. I’d have like to have had a product training session where I could learn about all the different products controlled by the department. There are a lot of unique products and I often found I had no idea what they were.
Flexi Time
International Travel
There are opportunities to do your final year project with Prysmian. And it would seem if you do this and make a good impression you can walk straight into a job here. However, I have no interest in doing my final year project with Prysmian nor any interest to work with for them in the future.
The Culture
There are opportunities to do your final year project with Prysmian. And it would seem if you do this and make a good impression you can walk straight into a job here. However, I have no interest in doing my final year project with Prysmian nor any interest to work with for them in the future.
They were pretty similar to Uni cost. Housing was maybe a bit nicer but it really depends were you choose to stay. I’d say I’ve had to budget my life a little less but that most probably due to the increase income!
I’m not sure I tended to drive back to uni to go out on nights out. Chester isn’t too far away, and Liverpool a little further but I’m more than sure there is a great nightlife there!
There is a regular football night if you are up for that and people tend to go to the cinema every time any big moves released. At the start/end of the placement year a trip to Chester races is organise, that really give you a chance to get to know everyone in the department.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Mechanical Engineering, Product Design
Wales
May 2018