Electrical Engineering Intern Review

Everyday I learnt something new at my placement. I enjoyed making the 50-mile drive to work everyday because I knew my work would be valued by all at the placement. I got to take on day to day responsibilities that an electrical engineer is expected to do. As well as being fortunate enough to be working with world renowned engineers who tell the rest of the world how to test products.

The biggest positive from my placement was connecting with the wonderful people at Eaton. I felt respected right from day one, although I lacked knowledge, Everyone welcomes me with open arms. My work was also actual project work that was used in top priority projects within Eaton. This made me feel extremely accountable and a part of the wider Eaton team

My manager was an excellent mentor, they gave me the correct balance between figuring things out for myself as well as providing experience and guidance when necessary. I had very little practical knowledge before my placement at Eaton, but now I feel much more comfortable with hand tools thanks to the support of my manager. By the end of the placement year I was setting Tests up and filling in test reports, l liased with customers all thanks to the training provided by my manager and other staff

It varies through the year. At the start of my placement I had several daily tasks and a lot of inductions and skills that were required for my job. As my competency levels increased, the time taken for me to perform tasks was smaller. I also had a lot of projects until December, after the new year work wasn’t as busy. I didn’t have regular day to day tasks and my project work only got busy from April onwards when a worldwide project was approved.

I believe I was given a considerable amount of responsibility as a placement student. I was not making executive business decisions, but I was free to make engineering calls on materials used as well as the way in which I tackle my projects. The work I was assigned was only to be completed by me and most of the work I did was reported to senior leaders at Eaton directly or via large team meetings. If I didn’t do the work assigned to me , it had a knock-on effect to everyone.

I believe some of the Project planning and management skills I have learnt will be used extensively for my final year project. In addition to this, I will be using the technical writing skills gained during the engineering reports in my assigned. In particular paying special attention to formatting thanks to my managers comments. I have found ways to make myself stand out during assessment centres and interviews by being able to have the opportunity to be on the side of the table. In terms of work related to my actual degree I haven’t gained much knowledge. But in comparison to the employability and leadership skills gained during my placement it can be overlooked as a small deficit.

The office was extremely lively. Especially when it was someone’s birthday. The office tradition was to bring in treats (food) and let the rest of the office consume some extra calories. Everyone had smiles on their faces during the morning greetings. Sometimes you’d see the odd person stressed, but five minutes later that person is making everyone else laugh in their department.

We had an actual job at Eaton. It was also part of a scheme with the rest of the placement students across the country. Every couple of months we would get together at one of the Eaton sites and learn some skill delivered by an external talent management company. Workshops included: time management, project planning , presentation skills and business communication. Placement students also varied from Finance , Supply Chain , HR , Engineering and many more departments.

As mentioned in a previous answers we had a session with the other placement students every other month. Workshops included: time management, project planning , presentation skills and business communication. Placement students also varied from Finance , Supply Chain , HR , Engineering and many more departments. We also had an end of year Milestone presentation in front of senior leaders at Eaton. This is where they offered many students a direct hire job and celebrated the accomplishments of all placement students. Individual sites provided placement students with training and gave inductions across various departments to build an idea of the business from day 1.

Despite liking my placement because of the people that were around me. I do not see myself working for the site I was at in the near future. I wanted something to challenge me in a placement and after much reflection I have acknowledged this kind of electrical engineering role is not for me. However at the end of the year Eaton informed us on its graduate roles. The graduate programme is split over two years, where one of the years is likely to be in a different country. The aim being to get an idea of at least two different job roles and see where you fit best. That is very intriguing to me!

Everyone was super friendly at work. From day one they gave us the opportunities to join in with their coffee talks as well as interact with the during the weekly running club. Everyone was like a big family with several barbecues and social gatherings throughout the year. We also get an invite to the Christmas party even after we finish our placement. We interacted with other placement students at the monthly workshops and some of which are now my friends on social media.

I lived at home! So I couldn’t tell you much about the accommodation costs. I commuted a round trip of 100 miles every day which resulted in filling up twice a week for petrol. The closest town was Loughborough which is known for its high density of students. That didn’t necessarily explain the high prices for the restaurants though!

The Eaton site I worked at was in a village, which was next to a bigger village , which was next to Loughborough. The local pub had quality food and the odd quiz night. Loughborough has an average nightlife in terms of the clubs and bars. There was nothing that particularly stood out, but a 40 min car journey and you could go to either Nottingham or Leicester.

Towards the end of my placement there was an active fitness competition between Eaton sites. There was a running club, a group of cyclists and a growing number of keen walkers. In fact I organised a hike up mount snowdon and colleagues joined to raise a total of £140. It was one of the highlights of my placement. We also had several small Barbecues and leavers parties.