Engineering (Design) Intern Review

I enjoyed the my work placement as a whole. It was real-life jobs, with real-life opportunities, with real-life consequences. The items that I designed in my office you could see them being made on mass production lines. It was very much peaks and troughs, as there were times of boredom. Also living out for the first time was an enjoyable experience.

I felt quite valued, as my colleagues didn't feel shy to throw jobs and tasks my way, no matter the level of difficulty, and I rarely turned any single one down. There were aspects of being looked down on, and being blamed for things that were totally out of my control which soured my experience in this topic, but it showed clearly how office politics can be a factor in every day life.

My supervisors were a key role in my placement. As with most things, the first time you do something it may take you a long while to get the grasp of things, but once you keep doing it becomes much more efficient. They were always at hand to answer questions and queries and guide me through a lot of technical aspects.

It was very much peaks and troughs. At the start of my placement I felt sort of kept in a corner with menial tasks, but that then made me stand up and ask for work which helped my colleagues gain respect for me as I was eager to learn and push myself.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement. As my main project for the year had major impact of ten's of thousands of pounds if successful. Also job that may not be deemed to be very "exciting" were handed to me, but I was grateful as any job could hone my skills in different avenues.

Being an engineering intern I've learnt a lot and developed and improved many skills. I feel a major one would be being exposed to a variety of practical aspects, such as design software, initial testing, troubleshooting and final product. A major skill that will help me in my degree studies is project management, as I can take these skills for my final year project.

It was a very quiet office, with a dominant male presence. This made the group quite a tight-knit set of individuals. Settling in this office wasn't an issue as I'm quite a down to earth, easy-going person. Not someone to disrupt, but improve the atmosphere in the office and fit in well.

I feel that before I even started my placement, I went months without any contact from Eaton, in regards to living around my site or any other such things. But the overall placement is what it says on the tin. A year of work, in your chosen field to get an experience of a year in industry.

There were intern training events once every few months. But these seemed quite tedious as they were at different sites, mainly being quite far from mine. And I didn't maybe take much from these as I was tired from the travel or the thought of the travel back to my site.

Eaton as a whole is a great company in my opinion. Maybe because personally I don't see myself working at my particular site it's not as appealing. Maybe with more research into what other avenues Eaton have to offer I could answer this question with a better understanding of what opportunities I could take.

I would have to say no. All the interns met once every few months, for half a day or a single day. But it was very much site specific. Some sites could have one intern others could have 7. It would also depend on how far other sites are from yourself as travel could play a factor.

In my area it was relatively cheap to live, it would've been cheaper if I had more time to plan my rental property. Socialising was relatively cheap but the problem really was the lack of socialising areas. As there wasn't much to do, or places to eat. So things started to become repetitive and tedious.

It wasn't the greatest as it seemed to suit the more of the older generation. But I lived quite close to 2 major cities so I would have to do a bit of travelling I to get a proper Nightlife. But any night out is about what you make it and company you're with.

There was a very strong lack of opportunities to get in involved in activities outside of work. But a small team including myself are recently starting to combat this by setting up small social events. As working for such a large company, it proves very difficult to get to know people on a one-to-one basis.