Industrial Trainee Review

I very much enjoyed my placement! I worked on 3 major projects and smaller tasks throughout the year as well as undertaking my own individual project. This variety of work and welcoming nature of the team made the work a real pleasure.

I think the first three months are very much an adaptive phase during which you need to prove your abilities and work ethic. Your colleagues will then see your drive and what you are capable of. In my experience, this allowed me to ask for more critical work where I definitely saw the value I was bringing to the team. The team I integrated was quiet unique in that there is a deep culture of recruiting placement students that then come back as full time employees. This created a very welcoming and trusting environment which really allowed me to explore varied work.

I received guidance from both my project teams, the previous placement students that returned as full time employees, and my supervisor that recruited me. Do not be scared to ask questions and to say 'I don't know'. You have only had a few years of study, of course they do not expect you to know everything. If you bring a curious attitude and want to learn, people are always happy to help.

I became more busy as the year progressed and I was involved in a more central role in each of the projects I participated in. They do not overload you with work, but if you ask for it, they will give it to you.

Initially, I was project assistant and contributed to the team were I could, mostly through admin tasks. As I proved my abilities and drive, more work and responsibility came my way. For my last 4 months, I basically lead a small team from the design coordination side and communications with our client.

The technical skills I gained will directly apply in one of my final year projects as well as an elective. The general skills I used and improved as well as my management sense will be useful wherever I go. I found it to be a year of tremendous personal development as well.

The general atmosphere is fairly serious and work oriented. Of course you are expected to have a certain output, but we had daily tea breaks where we discussed anything from personal to professional topics. The office was also well geared toward the after work social life, which really allowed me to get to know my colleagues and make it a memorable year.

The nature of the company as an engineering consultancy means that engineers fly around from project to project. I found that you will get the best experience from driving your own goals within the year. A useful tip is to set yourself goals at the beginning of the year of what you'd like to experience and work on and share that with your supervisor. If you do not know what you'd like to work on, let them know what generally interests you.

They paid for any health and safety training I undertook for site visits. Their online learning platform is also a good way to expose yourself to new things and see how vast the company really is.

I was offered a position to return as a summer placement student. This would be the continuation of my journey with them and eventually land a position as a graduate after finishing university.

Very very good. The team was comprised of a number of previous placement students who returned as full time graduates. This created a very sociable and friendly atmosphere not only between placement students but also with all early career professionals.

I worked in Croydon, south London. It all depends where you are headed, in central...well its London prices. Croydon itself is more affordable.

I worked in Croydon and lived in South London, zone 2. I believe most people would go to central London to go out, where you can find anything you're looking for.

I continued to play sports in a local London club although Mott MacDonald do have multiple recreational sports meet ups.