Launch Leader Review

I really enjoyed my placement at JLR as I found that I developed my skills for engineering and have grown as a person to succeed in a world of business. I was able to become involved and lead large projects and gained exciting exposure to cutting edge facilities and technology.

I felt that my team really utilised my skills throughout my placement. I was included in my tasks and was given a lot of responsibilities. I was made to feel like part of the team and was given excellent feedback throughout my placement, which continued to support my continued development.

I had a number of reviews with my manager and my supervisor to discuss my progress, and to look ahead to what I wanted to develop. If I had any technical questions I could always ask my manager and he would be happy to help me, as well as introduce me to other manufacturing techniques and elaborate on these.

I had a steady workload throughout my placement, with numerous long-running projects that kept me busy. If I was ever struggling for work to do, my supervisor was always happy to suggest new projects to be involved with. My team also called on my help often so there was little time where I spent not doing work.

I owned and managed a number of business-critical projects, including managing resources and people to deliver projects on time. These projects were essential to the business and meant that the tasks I carried out had importance to the company. This was more responsibility than I expected to have but I was glad that my activities had a tangible impact on the business.

The skills I learned during my placement at JLR have helped me in many aspects. I have seen the practical application of what I learned during my degree and therefore was able to see the purpose of much of my learning. I have also improved my time management skills, my interpersonal skills as well as my leadership skills. These have all been invaluable to me and I will be able to apply them to the continuation of my studies and my future career.

There was a friendly, social atmosphere in my office, allowing me to build good working relationships outside of just my team. The open-plan office meant communication was easier and I could work cross-functionally more effectively. I found people to be helpful and happy to support my learning throughout my placement.

I found that whilst my team were well organised and gave me work, there was little structure for the placement as a whole. This meant for undergraduates on placement that their activities were entirely down to their prospective team, and as such if their team was not organised then they would have not had enough support.

There was a number of courses available, many these being dependant on the placement department. As my department was not overly technical, being more of a coordinator role, I didn't have the requirement to attend many of these. I did, however, receive training on the use of CAE software and attended a 2-week course on lean manufacturing.

I find future employment with JLR very appealing. I found the work stimulating and challenging, finding that I was able to succeed at tasks that I was given and that the work suited me well. I mas made to feel included and I enjoyed being part of a major automotive company, with products that I became passionate about.

The placement scheme had good social aspects for undergrads based in locations near the head office of Whitley, however for those based further away such as I was there were little planned social events by the placement scheme. That being said, the undergrads at the facility I was placed at were able to organise our own events and I found it very helpful to be placed amongst others in a similar situation as myself.