Placement Student Review

I really enjoyed my work placement in Caterpillar. I had a chance to try 2 completely different roles within a year (two 6-month rotations). I learnt how to face completely new situations and how to solve real-life engineering problems. I think it was a great year for me and I developed a lot as a future engineer.

The atmosphere in Caterpillar is really good. Everyone is welcome and helpful. I have felt like a valuable employee completing given me projects to the deadline and presenting my outcomes to customers, colleagues and managers. I think my colleagues and supervisors appreciated my work and were always giving me feedback about the work I have done.

I have been given a great support by my supervisor, but also by people working with me on the projects and in the same team. In my first role a colleague spent the first week of my project work working with me and getting me up to speed with using the software. I was then able to complete the project on my own and with a small guidance by specialists from the team.

During my time in Caterpillar I had a chance to get involved in many projects. I was kept busy all the time. Did not have a boring day. The projects I was involved in were important projects that I had to deliver and I felt a great motivation to work and complete given me tasks well. After completion of every project I was presenting my findings to the team, customers or managers and that helped me a lot to improve my communication skills. I also thought it was great that there were so many projects available to get involved in from various departments. If you want to carry out a specific project or for example try some design or get some hands on experience, just ask your manager and you will be provided with the opportunity. Another good thing about the placement was that with every project or a new task, I had enough time to understand the project I was given and learn about the technical things associated with it.

I felt like I was given a fair bit of responsibility. I was running projects that then had an impact on the internal decisions of the engine design. I was involved in projects having direct impact on on-time product delivery. I was a part of teams consisting of people from various departments.

I think the training I received and the skills I learnt are going to significantly help me during my degree and also in my daily life. I learnt how to work in a team within a workplace that is different to university team tasks. I improved my communication skills. I have been faced with situations I have never dealt with before. I increased my confidence in my abilities. I improved data analysis skills. I also learnt lots of technical information. Gained invaluable experience in various softwares: simulation, data analysis. I learnt how to work efficiently and effectively.

The atmosphere in the office was very friendly. There were lots of nice cakes on various occasions. There were internal competitions organized during lunch breaks. The atmosphere was very nice, but it was also a good environment to work in, when you needed to focus and carry out an important piece of work.

In my opinion the placement year in Caterpillar was organized very well. You had a chance to be in 2 different roles. There was also a bit of freedom. If you wanted to get involved in a specific project or do some more learning on a specific issue, your supervisor would always be helpful and direct you in the right direction or try and find projects that suit you. They really take care to give placement students opportunities to learn the skills they want to learn and develop.

In terms of software, the training I got was internal. It was very good though as I got to learn it when solving a real life problem. I had a chance to attend a few off-site trips. They all served as a good learning opportunity for specific technical things and business and product knowledge. There were lots of internal lectures and presentations organized. During those presentations I could learn about very technical things as well as management and organization techniques, which were helpful to complete daily tasks at my job but also will be beneficial for university and personal life.

Caterpillar is a global company and it has got lots of different departments doing very different things. I think there us a good amount of very interesting jobs and there are big prospects for young and driven engineers (but also business people, data analysists, computer scientists and many others). I would definitely consider working in Caterpillar after graduation.

We had a group of placements always eating lunch together and playing sports in the afternoons. There is also A Young Professionals Caterpillar group where I had a chance to interact with other placements, but also graduates. There were lots of personal development events organized, but also afternoon socials, volunteering and sport events.

Peterborough area is fairly cheap. You can find a fairly nice accommodation in a fair price. The train to London takes only 45 minutes, so there is a chance to live quite cheap and still enjoy daily trips to London. The take away food is good and you will get a good amount of food for ~£12.

There is not a great selection of clubs in Peterborough. However there are a few nice pubs and the beer is not too expensive. There is a nice pub on the boat. There are also a few smaller pubs that have a great atmosphere and a good selection of drinks.

Lots of opportunities to get involved in various activities: volunteering for different charities, sports teams such as basketball, cricket, squash, golf, tennis. There was also a Peterborough Heritage Festival during which the company had its own stand and you could get involved in telling people about the company and its products.