Vacation Student (Project Management) Review

Overall the placement was useful it provided 360 degree overview of the rail industry in the areas that I had studied in my first year. As well as other areas of the business that I had not thought of before doing the placement.

Yes, the IT and equipment and basic software that I needed within was provided on day 1 as well as a programme of planned activities and meetings with very senior staff in the organisation. Those staff who had to provide insight into the work that they or their department did put time and effort into their presentation and answers questions to aid my understanding.

I was provided with placement mentor and has weekly meetings to see how the placement was going. The HR representative was accessible and also checked up on how I was doing. Any issues that arose I had a number of people that I could approach for a quick resolution.

For me the rail industry especially High Speed Rail is huge and somewhat overwhelming so having insight into the practical implementation of a large infrastructure was invaluable and informative. It also provided some fresh ideas of areas in terms of skills that I need to supplement my degree study with to improve my employability when I exit the academia.

Generally, speaking the placement was well structured with key area of focus and consideration that ARUP wanted me to think about during my time in the placement culminating in a presentation and report to a senior group on my experience. There were some occasions where departments were busy so planned activities had to be rescheduled. However, the ARUP University meant that where things changed I undertook a course online and was able to acquire CPD points in areas of engineering relating to rail.

Great environment, people are friendly and welcoming, established many good relationships in a very short space of time.

It was too short a placement for that type investment but the company provided meeting with Directors and business leads to get great insight into what they do in a number of different departments. This was invaluable and for people who are very busy I never felt like I was on the clock or they were in a rush, etc. So from that perspective I was able to gain a lot in a short space of time.

It was useful, everything about the placement was as if I was full-time staff member, having the responsiblity to complete timesheets and undergo full induction training for the employer and the project that I was assigned to. I was assigned to work on a real task with stakes and consequences so the insight was very real.

I got a good insight into the company culture and more over what it is like to work in the rail industry, with restrictions on alchohol, drugs and fatigue management. I recently suffered with a bad cold and because of training I received I took pictures of each medicine that I took and their ingredients and sent them to the relevant person to ensure I was safety compliant. So the experience impressed upon me my role in maintaining and adding to the safety culture with the company or JV project that in this case I was assigned to.

Difficult to answer at this stage I think the experience opened me up to further possibilities so in that regard was very useful

I was paid a weekly wage based in hours worked, which was useful as the placement was quite far away from where I lived so travel costs were quite high.

Yes, there are infotainment events constantly at the office/campus. I also got to attend local and departmental teams meetings. In addition there were social events that I could have attended if my schedule had allowed so I felt very comfortable meeting people in the environment.

Absolutely fine, the food and events I found useful and engaging.

Various news alerts and emails for events going on, so yes.

Overall really good placement, well looked after and the opportunity to feedback on my experience to benefit me and others student/apprentices in the future. Great opportunity and will definitely assist in shaping my career path and achieve success on my course.