Undergraduate Engineer Review

I loved working as an undergraduate engineer with Sisk. The project was a great opportunity to experience how topics that had been covered in lectures are actually applied to real life. The placement also provided the ability to see the variety of different jobs and tasks that Civil Engineers do on a daily basis.

I felt valued by my colleagues throughout my placement. My first few weeks were spent shadowing different engineers to get an overview of the site and also to become familiarised to the different equipment on site. Soon after, I was given responsibilities and jobs, such as surveying area to check work had been completed to the design specifications. By the end of my placement, I felt valued by my colleagues and that I was contributing toward the project.

My manager was always available to answer any questions or address any problems I may have had. He was interested in trying to tailor my placement towards areas of interest I had or any different aspects of the project I wanted to focus on. We also looked through the different tasks to see if they would provide a good introduction to upcoming university classes.

Due to the nature of the work on site, this could vary on a weekly basis. Towards the beginning of my placement, I had less work to do and my time was split between looking through the drawings and specifications for the project and getting as much time out on site as possible. However, by the end of my placement, when I had become responsible for different jobs, there sometimes was too much work to be done during the day.

I spent most of my first few weeks shadowing different engineers to try and get an overview of the work happening on site and learning how to use the different forms of equipment. After I had been trained to use the equipment I became responsible for taking as-built surveys for new additions to the site.

The training and skills I have received during my placement will provide a huge benefit to my degree studies. During my time on site, I was able to soak up a huge amount of new information and able to witness processes described during lectures actually happen on site. The health and safety courses I attended on site will also help improve the depth of reports and lab journals needed for my degree.

The office was a fairly relaxed environment. All the desks were open plan and provided a good opportunity to talk to lots of people from the different departments. All the staff were very approachable and were usually more than happy to answer any questions I had or explain what they were currently doing.

The placement was well organised with joining instructions and the requirements all communicated well in advance. I was always kept in the loop about upcoming events or changes of schedule. My time on site ran very smoothly and the engineers usually always had a number of jobs that kept me busy.

The company invested a lot of time during my placement, training me up to use the different equipment and also getting me up to speed with the project. I was also able to attend a one-day health and safety awareness course as part of the requirements for working on the site.

The company offers a wide variety of complex projects in different sectors across multiple countries. Their graduate scheme is excellent and allows the graduates to work within a broad range of projects across the company. The scheme also gets the graduates to take part in training modules related to different parts of the business.

There were a few occasions throughout my placement where I was invited to casual drinks with colleagues from work. But due to the long hours on site, it was often difficult to find time to socialise with colleagues outside of work. The majority of staff worked away from home and spent the weekends back with their families.

The cost of living in the area was very cheap in comparison to the city that I attend university in. The salary the company provided was very good and covered all my living expenses (such as rent; food and travel home) while allowing me to save a large amount of money to help fund my university expenses.