R&D Placement Review

I really enjoyed working for Caterpillar. I feel like I have learnt a lot during my time here. Everybody I have worked with has been really friendly and really made me feel like I belong and treat me like an equal. My day to day work was widely varied and I was even able to influence what I worked on.

My colleagues treated me like an equal and trusted me to get things done. I expected that I would be treated as a 'lesser' person and given less important work to do. However, this was not the case, my opinions on design changes and how to solve problems were given just as much consideration as everyone else's and I was often asked by other people to help them complete tasks.

I was initially given support to explain how the process works at the start of both of my 6 month rotations. After that it was largely down to me to ask people for help when required, however, when I did ask people were more than happy to assist and eventually I was helping other people to do things!

My daily workload varied a fair bit. In my first rotation we were testing engines so if everything was running as it should be then I was less busy, however, if things weren't going to plan (or the plan changed) I became a lot busier. In my second rotation I had project work to do which gave a more steady flow of work, however, it still varied as some days you would be waiting for people to respond or parts to arrive and then the next day you would be acting upon those responses. In both my rotations if I ever felt like I had too little or too much work I could just say to my manager and they would help out.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility during my placement, certainly more than I expected to be given when I joined. In my first rotation I was given the responsibility of arranging parts for engine builds in preparation for tests and then given the responsibility of running tests myself. In my second rotation I was also given a large amount of responsibility helping solve several design issues and even taking on a senior engineer's validation work!

A large amount of the skills I developed were soft skills, this was down in large part to having to go and speak to people in person to either find out how to do something or to get something done. I also learnt a lot of practical knowledge about diesel engines, having seen a large number of teardowns and builds as well as looking at a lot of test data.

The general atmosphere in the office was pretty relaxed. There was almost always some variance of cake or cheese or fruit bought in for someone's birthday or holiday. People also frequently talked about things outside of work such as hobbies and interests, this quite often sparked a discussion that could go on for some time!

The placement was pretty well organised. There is a placement manager who oversees all the placements and feeds out important information such as safety and time sheet info. There is also a 'desk review' with the placement manager at the start, middle and end of each rotation to track progress as well as a fortnightly 'desk review' with the rotation manager.

There were several training courses made available to me, however, the majority of these were made available during the later months and therefore I wasn't able to attend. However, there was monthly tech talks where people from different departments was present on what they were working on or the future of their department. The Young Professionals group also arranged trips and talks to aid people's learning and career progression.

The graduate scheme is pretty similar to the placement scheme just offering four 6 month placements instead of the two 6 month rotations on placement. The graduates also get more access to training as they are permanent employees as well as getting access to additional 'perks' such as the share scheme.

There is a Young Professionals group that organises social events such as nights out, dinners, pitch and putt etc. The events usually get a reasonable turn out and includes a mix of placements, graduates and apprenticeships. As well as this a lot of the placements live together so form a good bonding through that.

The housing varies depending on what sort of place you're looking for. If you're willing to share a house then the rent can be quite cheap depending on which area you choose to live in. Living on your own in a flat is usually more expensive but you'd expect that most places. in terms of shopping and socialising the pricing isn't really any different from elsewhere.

Having come from University the nightlife is quite poor. There is only one club in the whole of Peterborough. However, there are plenty of good restaurants, bars and pubs if that is more your thing. Also Stamford is just a 10 minute train ride away and is full of pubs and bars and London is only 45 mins by train (if your budget extends that far).

There are lots of sports clubs and activities run by or through the company. Pretty much any sport you are interested in you can almost guarantee there'll be someone else who's interested in it and will invite you along to their club. Different teams quite often organise socials as well which is a good chance to get to know your colleagues outside of work.