IT/Systems Placement Student Review

I definitely enjoyed my placement year here at Cummins, it has provided me with skills that I can take with me to use in my future career. The job role has provided me with daily challenges that has pushed me to think outside the box. There are sometimes where you have little work to do so finding things to fill this gap is sometimes a little tricky.

I felt valued within my team by specific colleagues. Sometimes you will be given jobs that are vital to the company. Personally I have to complete legal reviews which meant that we were compliant with US laws. If I had not completed this, then someone else in the team would have. Also Cummins likes to have a fresh pair of eyes on problems. However, you were sometimes given jobs that were tedious.

I personally had a tricky experience throughout my year at Cummins. I started with one manager that was only in 3 days a week, which sometimes made it difficult to be fully supported. However, in my final 7-8 months I was given a new manager that helped support me whenever possible. Also, if this manager wasn't in, I then felt comfortable to ask others for assistance.

Within the first few months of my placement, I found myself extremely busy due to the fact that it took me longer to complete tasks as I was having to learn on the job. However, towards the back end of my placement, because I now knew how to complete tasks quicker, I found myself with big gaps in the day where I had little to do.

During my placement I was treated as a full time employee - this meant that I had lots of different responsibilities. I was the site leader for certifying software and therefore people came straight to me for any issues regarding this. It all depends on what is happening within the team as to what level of responsibilities you get.

I believe the main benefit from this placement is the fact I have relevant experience to then go further in the career I choose. As much as the role itself is not specifically linked to my degree, I believe the time spent in an office environment will help me complete my third year in a professional manner.

The general atmosphere in my office towards the end of my placement was very positive and friendly. Walking around other departments, it can be said that some teams had a very serious atmosphere which can sometimes be daunting. We are currently having a refurbishment and this caused the offices to be louder at sometimes.

When arriving on my first day in the office, I had a meeting with my predecessor and my manager who provided me with a work plan for the year - this made it very easy to settle into work knowing exactly what I was going to be involved with. Further to this, HR put us in contact with other placement students a few months before starting which made us all feel more comfortable.

We completed a 5 day training course that involved personal development. This helped us to develop ourselves within the working environment. As much as my manager would try to tailor things to what I wanted to progress with, this was never really fulfilled. I also completed a variety of training courses that I will be putting on my CV which can help with finding a job in the future.

A future with Cummins would definitely be appealing to someone that is heavily interested in engines. Further to this, it would also be interesting for those that are looking for a Business Analyst role. However, personally for myself, I was looking for more of a technical role which I believe isn't offered by Cummins.

One of the best things about a placement at Cummins, is the number of other placements students there are. My year had around 37 placement students there and I have made friends that I will have for life. We spend a lot of time together outside of work and you can get as involved with this as you want to. Which I would definitely encourage!

The cost of living in Darlington is one of the cheapest I have ever come across - as long as you decide to live with other students or have a house share with other residents of Darlington. Socialising is also cheap, however, there isn't that much to do there. You really have to have a car to be able to do what you want.

The nightlife in Darlington is average - however, it is made 10 times better depending on whether you make a lot of friends with the other placement students. You can make any night out in Darlington a good one and it is a very cheap night. Just make sure you make friends at the start.

There were a few opportunities that included charity work which you can get involved with. Example of this are gardening at local parks, wrapping presents over Christmas and organizing a Triathlon. Further to this there is a sports and social club that you can join which set up events such as curry club.