Mechanical Engineering Industrial Placement Student Review

I enjoyed my work placement a lot in Mechanical engineering at GSK, as not only did I gain exposure into what a role as a mechanical support engineer is like, I had also been given the opportunity to work along side other engineering disciples, really giving a deeper insight into what industry is like.

I felt very valued by my colleagues on my placement year, during each project they showed me gratitude and encouragement as well as guidance in the most efficient way of completing the tasks. They were always happy to offer me support whenever I needed it and encouraged me to find means of development.

My manager had put a lot of effort into helping me with my personal development, teaching me how to not get stressed at work and how to remain positive in all situations. my supervisor came up with a development scheme for me when I first started and we had monthly reviews for progress checks.

Everyday was different which is something that I loved the most. It always kept me on my toes. I was generally quite busy with trying to find the root cause of an issue found in the production area. As the area is quite old, there were often more problems encountered than expected. I found it very thrilling

I was given a fair bit of responsibility which made me feel like I was thrown at the deep end when I first started, but the responsibility came with a lot of personal and interpersonally development. Being given the responsibility to work with classified information improved my time management, confidence and technical writing skills.

The technical writing skills gained will assist me with completing coursework essays in a more concise way. The professions' skills I developed will help me stay more focused and open minded at Uni. In the long term future, the confidence and people skills I development from my placement year will ensure that I will be able to walk into my next engineering role without being so nervous

to boost morale, people in the office brought in cakes and treats each week which made the atmosphere very welcoming. It was often social able when convenient but there were times of the day where the team would have consistent focus periods to ensure there was a good work to social life balance

For me, my placement was set up open to what the market demand was at the time, if there was a demand in production then that would be the priority for me to help in. towards the end of my placement, the company's demand was to assist with plant decommissioning which I also played a part it. The placement was unexpected which played a good representation to what the work life is like.

The company invested me by providing training for useful industrial programmes such as SAP usage and training on different kinds of machinery. They helped me develop my presenting and confidence skills by allowing me to present production issues at local panel each week. Furthermore I had the responsibility to take initiative by leading the site machine safety risk assessment which allowed me to development my leadership skills.

It is very appealing as every day is very different presenting lots of learning opportunities for personal development allowing me to become a versatile engineer. Not only that, the company are happy to invest in you so there are lots of perks in working for the organisation. I would love to go back to GSK after I finish my university degree.

As a team we went on socials monthly and we also went on larger socials with the value steam department. Moreover, we had our annual Christmas party at the Hilton hotel in brighton which was a very nice social scene. The events held have always been fill with a lot of positive energy.

The social life during the spring and summer was really good as my placement location was near brighton in an area called Worthing. It was close to the beach with lots of nice scenery. The cost of living wasn't too expensive with an average of £500 a month for rent. It was also very close to London - about an hour and a half away by train.

Night life in Worthing was a bit bland so as a group of students, we would take a quick 20 minute train journey into Brighton. The food places and bars were good in Worthing and opened till late. I would recommend the nightlife if you like places that are relaxed

There are local gyms that have different kinds of classes. As we are near the seafont, those interested in Surfing can Surf. There are local tennis courts, the south downs is a good spot to go hiking on or cycling. There are lots of pubs, bars and restaurant to try out as well.