maintenance student Review

at the beginning of placement I found myself quite office bound, which wasn't what i was hoping to spend 12 months doing. After 2 months of this, a maintenance admin started which alleviated many of my office duties. This allowed me to spend far more time on the factory floor, optimizing maintenance tasks and bringing instructions up to standard, which i found very engaging and impactful. i found my enjoyment gradually increase throughout the placement as i became more defendant at work

i felt all colleagues treat me with full respect as an employee from day 1. my daily/weekly/monthly responsibilities were outlined and all relevant staff were more than happy to aid in helping me fit into the company comfortably as i learned my duties. I was given the opportunity to add my insight, despite often being the most inexperienced in the room. this helped me learn how to address situations within meetings and how to react to other peoples comments.

management and supervisors are happy to help and are knowledgeable on their subjects. they often asked if i needed assistance with anything and checked how i was progressing within the company. Quarterly reviews were organised which allowed for an analysis of my strengths and weaknesses to better plan out my future months on placement. I was often given interesting work by my supervisor which kept me interested and eager to learn. They were always available to talk and give constructive advice.

at the start of placement, I found most of my time was taken up by office duties and I was quite busy. These were often the same time consuming tasks each day. Despite being important, these were repetitive. Upon a new maintenance admin starting, many of my daily tasks were transferred and i became far more busy on the shop floor. Much of my time was taken up with creating TPM/PM instructions and bringing existing ones up to standard. This let me plan my day out much easier as i could decide how busy i would be each day.

Throughout placement i was relied upon to complete many tasks. I was responsible for inputting and analysing all the factory machine downtime data and displaying this at relevant lines. I was responsible for monitoring TPM completion and reviewing this in morning supervisor meetings, with the goal of ensuring all operator maintenance tasks were brought back up to date if incomplete. I was also responsible for raising orders within the faculty. I was the only staff member who was competent in the aforementioned tasks so i was definitely heavily responsible for the completion of these throughout placement

Upon starting the placement, i wanted to gain valuable industry experience an business awareness. These have been developed in great depth and i am now competent in working independently and collaboratively within a professional environment. Throughout placement, i didn't exercise many skills learned at university, however i think the skills i have worked on are invaluable and have well prepared me for a future in industry. The time management skills i've developed will help me in planning for my final year at university.

The maintenance office is divided into production and maintenance staff. with these departments working closely together, it was vital to have them both able to collaborate and bounce ideas off. The department was collected and organised and it was interesting to see how the atmosphere changed when the plant situation did. When there was a major breakdown, staff are asking others to pull up historical data, or trying to reshuffle operators quickly to avoid stopping production. this made the atmosphere very busy, but rarely unpleasantly hectic. The staff were fun to converse with and helped to boost the mood in the office.

the placement was very well structured, offering chances to learn extra things in free time through MOOCs - an online learning lab designed to improve ones competency at work. they also allowed to dip into other function areas within the company which interested me. the quarterly reviews allowed for an analysis of my performance in order to suggest improvements for me throughout placement. The company induction, which aimed to introduce all UK students to the company was a great way to engage all the students, while being very informative and reassuring.

the induction week was in place to train new students on general practices within the company, it was insightful and definitely worth the time away. Upon realizing i was office bound more than 95% of the time, the plant management team invested in a new maintenance admin. This meant i could spend more time out of the office and gain some valuable experience. This is exemplary of the investment the company is willing to make in terms of improving the placement satisfaction.,

the company offers multiple future employment opportunities. They also assure that, since i've done the placement scheme, they will aid in my application for future prospects within the company. The VIE scheme, an international postgrad scheme, allows for ex students to work abroad within the company for a given period and can be well tailored to what one wants to gain from the opportunity. They also offer a graduate scheme whereby you work for the company for 2 years and they pay for a masters in leadership & management or another professional qualification.

throughout placement, i developed strong relationships with the other students and have developed long lasting friendships. This only helped reinforce working relationships and really helped me find grounding within the company. As a plant we often organised social events which improved working connections and sociability with people and departments who i wouldn't normally have communicated with. This helps keep the workplace friendly and fun while also maintaining a professional environment as everyone gets to vent their fun out of work.

The cost of living was relatively low in newcastle where i lived throughout placement. However transport in was expensive and to alleviate costs, i car shared with the other students for the year which greately reduced commuting costs. The nightlife in newcastle is tailored to all personal budgets and is not too expensive. Throughout the placement, i managed to save a considerable amount of money through car sharing and personal financing. To further reduce transport costs, i would cycle into work when the weather was good. the cycle route from newcastle is a safe cycle.

the area i worked in was an industrial estate so there wasnt much of a nightlife. local bars and pubs were pleasant to visit and relatively inexpensive. The nightlife in newcastle is great and is tailored to all budgets and desires. everything is packed close together so its easy to have a good night with a large amount of people. the quayside, jesmond dene and ouseburn provide beautiful scenery and a relaxing environment for all.

throughout placement, there weren't many opportunities organised by work to get involved with in my recreational time. However, due to building good work relations, there were many social events organised such as escape rooms, nights out, leaving do's etc. Events like these were organised through group email chains and would often result in a good turnout. Newcastle is packed with opportunities for out of work activities and theres something for everyone within the company to be involved