Railway Signalling Design Intern Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Siemens. The work has been fairly constant throughout the placement apart from the first few weeks where the work was a bit limited. But, all my fellow employees have been very friendly, helpful and approachable throughout my time here and i would not hesitate to work for this company if i was given the offer in the future post graduation.

Since this has been my 2nd placement with Siemens, i found that i fitted in a lot more quickly and effectively this time because i knew the majority of my colleagues, and i knew how things ran in the office so i felt like they knew what i was capable of and valued me because they knew what to expect from me based on how i worked on my previous placement. They knew i was reliable when it came to setting me on various tasks.

Every time i had a query with something i was working on, my colleagues were always willing to help guide me in the right direction by thoroughly explaining how to resolve the issues i was having until i had gained a sufficient understanding. The team ethic within the office is outstanding and it's one of the main factors which contributed to my decision to want to return for another summer placement.

Once i was set on my own project, i found that i was busy throughout every working day to the extent that i had to do some work outside of working hours to ensure i meet the target deadlines i was given throughout the course of my time at Siemens. But alongside this, i was set on a variety of tasks as well. There aren't many days that run the same which added to the enjoyment!

I was set on my own project which lasted throughout the length of my placement and i found there was no limitation with regards to what i could do with it when trying to fulfil the requirements of the brief i was initially given. Working at Siemens definitely gives you the opportunity to go as far as you can with anything you do.

Working here has developed my communication skills, my ability to work as part of a highly driven team. It has given me a perspective of an industrial design process which is something constantly highlighted in my degree. Specifically from doing my SharePoint project, it has majorly developed my programming ability also.

The office is arranged into the different projects currently undertaken. Though it can be quiet, there is always something going on. I've found the atmosphere amongst the younger generation within the office to be a bit more preferable because there were opportunities to have conversations etc. But overall, the office atmosphere is good.

My application and onboarding processes prior to my start date ran smoothly. However, when i arrived in the office i found out there was a 3 week delay on the set up of my IT account due to a major miscommunication between HR and IT. This meant work was very quiet and limited at the start of my placement. But once all my IT had arrived, the placement ran smoothly.

Within this field of work (Rail Automation), to have the authority to personally contribute to the designing of deliverables you need to have various training and licenses to be able to fully design something. However, because this has been a temporary placement there has been no need/time to complete any training with me going back to uni soon. For students, the training and development comes from the graduate programme and beyond into the future career.

Very appealing! Having had 2 summer placements with the company, i have gained a lot of useful experience and i think it has put me in good stead for the graduate programme where i feel i can put my engineering ability and knowledge of rail automation to good use within the variety of sectors the scheme offers. Furthermore, there will always be a demand in the rail industry so i feel the placements have put me in a really good position.

The office i was based in had a number of graduates and apprentices which meant there were people my age i could easily mix with and get to know, as well as work with effectively. I found my older colleagues were a lot more quiet which meant i couldn't really get to know them anywhere near as well.

I commuted from Sheffield to Manchester on a daily basis via the train. I found once you had got into a regular working hours schedule (8-4), you could book the trains in advance around then and get them pretty cheap (roughly £12 return per day). I didn't have to arrange for temporary accommodation because i live in Sheffield due to that being where my uni is located so i already had a flat arranged there with that. In addition I went out for lunch quite often with the apprentices in Manchester. It's definitely a good city to work in.

We had the odd office night out in Manchester which were all very enjoyable. Usually there is one scheduled every month but there are other events that employees take charge of organising, for example going to the cricket at Old Trafford. But Manchester is quite a vibrant city and there are a lot of decent places to go for food and drink etc.

Over this placement, i didn't find there was as many opportunities as there were in my previous placement. I had a volunteering day based in the local community and that was it really. But i think that's mainly because i'm a temporary employee whereas if i was to work here full time i know there would be a lot more opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work.