Placement Student Review

I have greatly enjoyed my placement at Caterpillar, through the work I've been completing, and the people I've worked with. The tasks set are challenging but not stressful, a lot of the time without deadlines, and people are friendly and happy to help so you rarely feel like you're wasting their time.

In both of my 6 month rotations, I felt like the teams welcomed me and quickly trusted me to complete work, often leaving me to run tests and analyse results without supervision. However this self-motivated approach didn't encourage a team atmosphere, so I wouldn't say we were close enough to "go for drinks after work" together.

The support provided by the this placement was exceptional, as I was given a placement manager, a supervisor and a team manager who I could rely on for guidance, as well as my MPDS mentor who was always happy to help out too. If I ever had any questions about my tasks, one of the above was always available to lend a hand.

My busy days tended to come along like buses; one week I would have very little to do, often spending time googling things or hunting for new projects from my colleagues, and then the next week will be packed full of testing and data analysis because three of my colleagues give me tasks at once. This became a little wearisome after 12 months, as occasionally the slow weeks would stretch to two/three weeks, which can test your motivation.

Due to the autonomous nature of my placement, I was given a lot of responsibility for completing work to an acceptable standard. In my first 6 months I was responsible for renovating a workshop, with a relatively open budget. In my second rotation, I designed, built and ran a test to validate a component, which will be mounted on and engine in the future.

The skills I most developed were my project management and communication skills, as almost all of the tasks I was set required me to work with other people. Being brutally honest, I barely used any of the pure maths I'd learnt on my degree, so in terms of academic learning, my placement has been less than demanding.

The atmosphere in the office was light hearted but quiet. Each team has it's own block of seating in a large shared office, meaning talking to colleagues is as easy as scooting your chair down an isle. Depending on the team, 'banter' can be had, with teammates making fun of each other's age, clothing choices (pink shirts are brave) and car choices.

In terms of organisation, the placement has been a mixed bag. The first two weeks were rough, with students struggling to get network access and the required accounts for the work they were expected to do (Caterpillar seems to use 5 different software packages which require accounts). However once things were set up, the placement ran smoothly.

Personal training was encouraged by the managers, but limited in availability. I have attended a few lectures on engine related topics, and had a day spent disassembling and reassembling an engine. I have also been encouraged to attend company days out, to trade shows and supplier facilities, which I wouldn't count as training, but do open your eyes to what else is out there.

I would be happy to come back to this placement after my degree, as the grad-scheme is offering an above-average pay for work that isn't more demanding than the year placement. There are multiple sites around the UK which I would consider, but I wouldn't particularly want to come back to Peterborough as the town itself isn't great.

There were 12 other placements on my scheme, and another 5 on other schemes at the company. We grouped together to share houses, which was organized over facebook, which meant socializing was easy. We would go on nights out once a month, or play sports together (e.g. squash, golf, rock climbing), or even have chilled nights in and watch films at each other's houses.

Compared to Surrey, Peterborough was cheap as chips. My accommodation was about £325pcm excluding bills, but other placements had found housing for £280pcm. There are plenty of shops in the town centre, and Lidls/Aldis and other supermarkets spread quite evenly around the area. Nights out were cheap, with pints costing around £2.50 and the clubs rarely charging entry fees above £5. Gym costs can vary, I use the cheapest at £17 a month, but others with spas, swimming pools and tennis courts can charge over £50.

Peterborough has a limited number of rundown clubs, 3, maybe 4 if you count Weatherspoons. The wildlife in these clubs is a bit questionable; with the usual teenagers and chavs you'd expect, mixed with drunk 50+ year old women who try to get a dance out of you. Not really my scene.

There are plenty of clubs to get involved in, but they're restricted to the common sports like football, cycling, cricket and basketball. These aren't advertised widely, and are more likely to be passed on by word of mouth or on bulletin boards in the break rooms. I personally haven't joined any clubs, but my housemate is in three.