Summer Placement Review

I enjoyed my placement because I was given a few good projects to work on with plenty of tasks to do to keep busy. I was happy to come to work as I knew I always had things to do and was simply given pointless tasks to fill in my time.

I feel like I have made a valid contribution to my team in, and to Siemens in my placement, because my projects have been something the business needs to do work on and work on my projects will continue when I leave. I feel like colleagues respond and work with me in a professional manner and do not under value me.

My managers and supervisors were always very busy however still always made time to ensure I was on track, and were always their to support me if I needed their assistance or guidance. I think they were very supportive and made my placement enjoyable, and will miss working with them.

Most days I was very busy with my projects which included contacting people around the business, attending meetings, setting up events, calculating cost estimates, drafting business cases and going from site to site for project related issues. There has no been I day in this placement where I have felt that I haven't had enough to do.

I believe I was given a fair amount of responsibility. I was left to organize a presentation and workshop with over 20-30 attendees for example which was a daunting thing at first, however I did enjoy it. My projects required a fair amount of responsility to conduct as I was the main contact for the issues concerned.

I believe my skills have widened massively during the last 3 months. These skills developed vary in the form of professionalism, social skills, presentational skills, ability to use previously unknown software and I feel my technical knowledge as a developing engineer has increased. I feel I have gained invaluable experience which I will find very useful.

Generally positive. Some people are occasionally stressed and very busy from meeting to meeting however generally the mood was relaxed and friendly which made the environment a pleasant and enjoyable one to work in. A workplace with a bit of fun alongside the work I find is always more productive.

The placement locations were not sent out till a week before we started which is inconvenient for arranging transport. People who had requested certain departments or had actually arranged a placement were not given them. We were not able to contact our managers in advice, even though requested, to be able to ask for lockers etc. The placement handbook is massively outdated and needs to be looked at, we are constantly referred to it, however many of the things in there are not/were never correct. Some managers were unaware of the initial briefing. The bursary was also paid a week and a half late. On a positive note, laptops and PKI cards and other equipment we needed arrived reasonably early.

The company invests in the IMechE MPDS scheme to develop our professionalism to become a charted engineer. The company pays us a bursary alongside our studies to help us with living costs, which is very useful. The company is happy to invest in extra training for us if needs be.

I will be working for Siemens on the graduate scheme after I have finished my masters at university, provided I pass the final interview stage. Having carried out 3 summer placements with Siemens, which overall have been enjoyable, I was look to continue employment with them after the grad scheme as well.

Yes, we got on well and effort was made by the company to connect us before the placement - many of us already knew each other. Whilst on placement we met at lunch and had group chats on company communication software with both the other engineering interns, and also the business and finance interns.

Lincoln is relatively cheap. Some accommodation can be expensive and good places can be hard to find. If you don't have a bike or car and are based outside the city center, the buses and trains are relatively cheap, and regular. Drinks and food in town is not too expensive and a fair few places to chose from.

During summer when all the students have gone, the nightlife dies down a little, however there are still plenty of clubs and bars open such as Home, Moka, Bierkeller, The Scene, Fever & Boutique. There are lots of smaller bars and pubs open too which are popular and busy during summer.

With work colleagues, personally, for me no. However I know that there were opportunities available such as charity cycle rides, football games and other things. With non work colleagues there are plenty of things to do in Lincoln, like gyms, sports clubs, tourist attractions. There is also often live music events and other things like that.