process engineer Review

My placement at Siemens Oxford was really enjoyable. From the first day I was exposed to a wide variety of projects that required a lot of work to complete. My day to day role involved dealing with daily issues on the production ship floor and then working on projects during the remaining time. This was my first exposure to an Engineering environment and was a real eye opener. Overall the placement was extremely enjoyable !

From day one, I was made to feel at home and an important member of the team. All the employees were extremely friendly and made sure I was comfortable in my role. The senior members of the team always went the extra step to provide guidance which really helped me during my time at Siemens Oxford. The ownership culture is really reflected in the way people at Siemens treat you. Siemens made me feel very valuable during my placement.

My manager made sure that I was comfortable in my role. There were monthly 1-2-1 meetings to check progress on my projects and also to just have a general chat. Also day to day, my manager would be open to having conversations regarding the project and also giving me advice regarding my university course and future job prospects. Overall I gained invaluable experience and guidance from my manager and will take on board all the advice he has provided.

Most days were busy with multiple projects. The projects I got were complex and required a lot of work firstly to understand the basics and then work towards a solution. Aside from projects, I was also expected to keep an eye on the daily production problems and work with the team to figure out solutions. Siemens also offered a range of training courses including cryogenic, H&S, electrical and mechanical training. There wasnt a day where there was nothing to do.

From day one I was given a lot of responsibilities. The projects I received were ongoing real world issues that needed addressing As soon as possible. I was given the freedom of coming up with my own solution and presenting to the team. Even though I was a new member of the team, I was also given the responsibility of organising a team building event, this really made me feel valued and gave me the chance to get to know the team even better.

Siemens Oxford gave me my first experience of real world Engineering. It really opened my eyes how challenging and diverse the engineering sector is and only increase my hunger to do well. This placement also highlighted skills which I though I was good at but in reality need to improve. My getting this placement, it really put a meaning to my degree and instead of wondering how I would use something learnt at uni, I was trying to figure out the real world uses.

The atmosphere was very lively. All members of the team were always up for a joke and keeping the environment light. . . All the Engineers sit on the same floor with a partition splitting 2 rooms. The set up of the desks means that all members of the team could talk to each other and this meant the office atmosphere was always upbeat and lively. The atmosphere itself made you want to go into work.

The onboarding process wasnt as good as I would expect from a company like Siemens. Up until a week before I started, I didn't even have a contract to sign. Once I started it took over 2 weeks to receive my IT equipment and ID card. Without this card I couldn't do a lot of stuff on the Siemens intranet which meant there was some time wasted not being able to do the required introduction training.

Siemens made sure that I attended all the necessary training sessions to be able to do my job to the best of my ability. I was put onto the same training schedule as full time employees which really made me feel important. Siemens also offers many online and classroom courses that can be carried out with the consent from manager. Because my placement was only 3 months, I didn't have enough time to try these.

Due to my placement with Siemens in Oxford, I did manage to get a job at another Siemens site that is closer to home straight after graduating from the university of Manchester. There is no doubt that the skills I developed in my placement helped me get this new job and the fact that the ownership culture applies across all Siemens factories meant that the work environment and atmosphere is very similar throughout all Siemens sites.

Oxford is an expensive place to live. My rent was much higher than expected and general shopping was expensive