Student Engineer Review

I very much enjoyed my time on placement putting in to practice what I am learning in my degree. I felt an immediate part of the team and my opinion and contribution was valued. I felt I gained enough responsibility to match my confidence in the role.

My opinion was always heard and discussed even if it wasn't a very good option in the end! We went on numerous staff socials and everyone made me feel very welcome at the company.

My manager played an important role in allowing me to develop my skills and being there to help in any way and answer my endless questions! Other staff were also incredibly helpful in supporting me and teaching me new methods and why we do certain things.

This was the hardest part as the working day for me was 7-6 (Mon-Thurs) and 7-3.30 (Fri). This was quite a shock to the system to begin with but you do get used it. The company knows these are long hours and encourage employees to make sure they get a good life balance as well.

I felt that I was comfortable with the levels of responsibility that I was given throughout the year and as my confidence grew I took on more. It felt well controlled and there was enough support and guidance to help me with tasks if I found I was becoming stretched.

From the role I have definitely gained skills for life and those that will help with my degree. Time management, organisational skills and communication skills were very important for job role as well as being precise and accurate with my tasks will be hugely beneficial going forward.

The office was a fun place to be away from the main on site activities and was stocked with essential equipment to do my role. The staff were friendly and had a good sense of humour which made the long days feel better.

The placement was well organised with relevant site qualifications dealt with before the placement began and with me being able to hit the ground running when I first started working with another engineer.

The company allowed me to attend a week training on Setting Out for engineers which was extremely useful for my role as well as enabling the relevant training sessions throughout the year to take place in the office. This included training on how to avoid underground services and how to detect them.

Future prospects look good with the the possibility of me returning for either a summer placement again next year and maybe then the graduate programme when I graduate a year later.

There were quite a few events through mainly the summer months when the summer placement students were around, however I was away for those and couldn't attend.

Where I was based, I lived in Bridgwater which is not overly appealing but generally had an average cost of living. Socialising usually took place in either Taunton or Bristol.

The nightlife in Bridgwater was pretty terrible however nearby Taunton and Bristol were much better and provided a welcome relief!

There were lots of activities and staff socials to take part in, usually once a month and consisted of a range of themes.