Industrial Trainee - Civil Review

My placement was incredibly active, both professionally and socially. I was provided with training (optional and compulsory) and ample opportunities to learn and develop existing and new skills with tasks and jobs that continuously pushed me beyond what I had ever done before. There were also multiple social opportunities which made the work environment very friendly and open.

Everyone I have met has been very friendly and understanding. As a placement student, there is a lot still to learn and I often found myself unsure and needing help. Instead of finding this annoying and seeing it as an obstacle, often I was helped and taught how to complete my needed actions. This made me feel valued as opposed to a hindrance.

My team as a whole have always been very supportive. I was assigned a buddy for my first few weeks to go to for guidance, a mentor to go to for more in depth training and understandings and my line manager was always happy to have a sit down and give me support if needed.

My work load varied. There were times when I would find myself short of work (times when I would be diverted to complete training modules) and also periods of time whereby my work load seemed excessive (forcing me to work overtime to meet deadlines). On average, steps were always taken to help my workload if I felt I was too busy/not busy enough.

I have been given tasks of variable responsibility throughout my placement. This ranged from very simple work that just needed doing by anyone to high level design work with a great deal of responsibility. It was a good range to help me understand the different levels of work available for my chosen career.

Throughout my placement, I learned lots of new skills and developed lots of existing skills. Many of these skills were generic professional skills that are applicable anywhere and almost all of them will be used through my personal and professional life. unfortunately, real life work skills don't fully corelate with university skills.

It was often a quiet office with people working away on their own jobs. Frequently, there would be meetings and professional discussions. Occasionally, there would be social chatting. Overall, the atmosphere was professional and work focussed but this was with a friendly feeling to it and I always felt comfortable.

Everything went smoothly, from meeting the team, being given training to help me get up to speed, being given work and then having regular support to make sure I was progressing in the right direction. There seemed to always be some form of prepared format to help me as a placement student.

I was given a lot of training in several forms. Classroom sessions, online courses, one to one training and on the job shadowing were some of the forms of training I received. From this is feel that they did invest a fair amount into making me a more productive member of their team.

Mott MacDonald were my preferred company when applying for placement roles because, in my opinion, they offer a much more people based focus approach to the business. Having spent time working for them, I still believe this. You are pushed to improve and develop and this greatly appeals to me as a young professional.

While there were always social opportunities available, there were very few other placement students. I spent most of my social time with the graduates and apprentices. There were a few socials with my team (throughout all levels in the team) and these were very enjoyable. Overall, the social scene was good but could be better.

My placement was based in Cambridge. Due to local regulations I wasn't allowed into student accommodation and therefore had to live in professional accommodation. There were very few affordable options and this made the cost of living very high. Furthermore, as a city, most things are also fairly expensive. I had to keep an eye on my spending.

The nightlife was fairly decent as there re 2 universities in Cambridge however, nights out were often quite expensive.

There were plenty of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. I was updated weekly of activities hosted in and around Cambridge by the weekly newsletter. This combined with how simple it is to get around Cambridge made getting involved simple. Activities ranged from firework displays and fun fairs to charity events and sport events.