Engineering Summer Placement Review

I really enjoyed my placement as it was a great way to get experience within the oil and gas industry. It also provided exposure to a lot of different sites and different facets of engineering. As the company has a dedicated Graduate team the placement is well organised and they help with accommodation/travel.

I felt very valued. At no point did I, or any of the other summer placements I was with feel like we weren't an equal member of the team. All the work I was given was work that the company needed completed. everyone was very willing to help and answer any questions that I had. Everyone was lovely and happy to help.

I was given very good support throughout the placement. Any time I had a question or query someone would help and they would be willing to give me feedback on any work I did. The amount of help I got possibly decreased as the 10 weeks progressed. This is to be suspected but I do think people possibly forgot how little experience I had.

It varied a lot. I always had something to do and was never sitting completely bored but some weeks there were deadlines, site visits and training whereas other weeks would consist of just office work. It became less busy near the end as many people were on leave and you need to submit your work a bit before you finish (2 weeksish) so that it can be reviewed.

I was given exactly the right level of responsibility. All the work I was doing was important to the company but none of it was approved without being reviewed and it wasn't too much above my head. I maybe got given a few too many objectives as my manager did not know about some of the other commitments I had been given.

The skills will be invaluable when I am applying to future jobs. Not only did I get experience in an industry I would be interested in pursuing but I gained practical experience which key for a subject such as engineering. I am far more aware of how a corporate company functions and is run as well as the number of roles an engineer can be involved in.

The atmosphere was great. Everyone was lovely and it was relaxed while still being professional. I got on really well with my whole team and will be sad to leave them. No matter how senior the person was they were still very happy to be approached and have a chat about anything from work to living in Hull.

As there was a dedicated Graduate team it was well organised. However, this team was based in Windsor and would organise things there. When they did this I'm not sure they fully appreciated how busy we were and how long it would take those students not based there to travel there. If you had any logistical/pay/personal issues it was very clear who to contact to get help.

I was given the opportunity to go on 4 separate training courses. This placement gave great opportunities for development. I have qualifications I can now put on my CV. However, I think the company needs to find a better balance between giving us opportunity to develop and the output they expect from us. The things I found most useful for my development didn't necessarily involve by objectives but the company didn't take into the account the time this took out of our schedule.

There are many future employment opportunities within the company and they are very clear about what these roles involve and what they are looking for in potential candidates. Personally I will not be pursuing these options as the format was not correct for me but many of the other placement students are pursuing the grad scheme.

I got on very well with my fellow placement students and everyone in the office. I did not see anyone from the office outside of work but if I had been there longer believe I would have. My and my fellow placement students were quite sociable Mon-Fri and did plan a couple of weekends together but most weekends were very quiet.

The cost of living was very cheap for us. the company paid for our car and accommodation while we were working in Hull. Hull itself is quite reasonable food, drinks and socialising are not too expensive but it is also not ridiculously cheap. However, if using public transport it can be quite expensive to get to due to limited connections.

I was positioned in Hull. The nightlife was not great and many people left at the weekends. There were other summer placements positioned here so it wasn't completely antisocial but it also wasn't fantastic. If you can easily get home at weekends the set up would have been ideal. Other placement students were placed in other locations which may have been better.

Not particularly. I joined the company at a rather strange time when lots of people were moving roles/being made redundant or on leave. Everyone I worked with was lovely and there was a great atmosphere in the office. Despite this I did not see anyone from the office outside of the office (apart from the other placement students who I lived with).