Undergraduate Test Engineer Review

The placement gave me challenging work, useful skills and allowed me to meet a lot of great people. Negative points would be a lack of work/support at the beginning as I learnt what to do.

By the end of the placement I was working as though I was a proper engineer and had a vital role in the team. Many members of the team commented how useful I was being, how they were glad I was there and how they would miss me once I was gone.

Manager was very helpful and supportive where possible but also extremely busy which made it difficult. Supervisor who was meant to support on a more daily basis was somewhat supportive but difficult to get time with even if he had the time and I feel like he could have done more. More support early on would have improved the beginning few months which were the least enjoyable.

First 3 months: not too busy. I had to proactively look for work to do and do a lot of independent learning and training. From the third month onwards I got extremely busy as I took over a vital role in the team. If I wanted I could have got more or less work by asking for more or delegating some.

In my main role once I got settled, while not officially given responsibility to start with I took it anyway and eventually it was assumed I would do it because no one else would/could. Towards the end of the year I was responsible for teaching others and people came to me for help. This was from my own doing and I could have had less if desired.

In terms of technical knowledge to help with my degree I learnt virtually nothing. This is due to the area I worked in compared to my degree. However, I learnt many other skills, in particular my communication, time management and general maturity improved massively. One of the main positives was gaining a big work ethic which will help a lot once back studying. I also learnt many technical skills which will not be useful in my degree but may be in future work.

My office was relatively small for JLR (~15 people) and therefore everyone knew each other well. I had good friendships with many colleagues and saw them outside of work sometimes. This meant the atmosphere was generally friendly and people were happy to ask others for help if it was needed.

The beginning of the placement could have been better organised to make the first few months more productive. A lack of support meant it was difficult to get involved and have things to do. This is particularly a problem with 3 month placements as it is basically all their time there. My advice would be to be proactive and seek as much work as possible and not be afraid of asking for help and support.

Upon arriving I had a decent amount of external training and booked onto lots more in the coming months. However, due to cost saving initiatives these were cancelled therefore there were not many training opportunities unless they were job critical. I still managed to do some and what I did was very useful and will be in future too.

The graduate scheme looks like a very good one and students who have done an undergraduate placement can get into it more easily.

Unlike many other undergraduates I spent a lot of my team with my own team so I did not experience much of the undergraduate social side. However with my team some of them went to quiz nights and sports weekly and many were usually up for going out for food and/or drinks, particularly for special occasions.

I have limited places to compare to but comparing Leamington Spa where I lived to Yorkshire where I am from originally it is quite expensive. Rent was £500 for a room in a house share and is about the standard price for the area. Pints of beer are around £3-£4.

I spent most weekends visiting friends in other places but the few times I went out in Leamington Spa it was ok. There are a few clubs but only one I think that is open until late. It is also quite expensive but can be busy because it’s the nearest place to Warwick University.

I did not really explore this enough to say but I know people played football up to several times a week with other undergraduates and colleagues.