Engineering Placement Student Review

At the start of my placement I was helping to support PPAP activities (run-at-rate, production trials, mass production trials, and extended production trials). I was able to attend daily meetings which quickly demonstrated the importance of good interdepartmental relationships and how they affect the day to day running of the plant. Every day was different which led to lots of personal growth and industrial experience. Occasionally there would be repetitive or time consuming tasks however there were plenty of ways to get involved with the department.

The transferrable skills that I have gained such as the digital competence and confidence gained will help me for the remainder of my degree and in the future. I increased my knowledge of the process and began to understand the tooling and technical aspects of the role. Good data analysis & interpretation of the data to make informed technical decisions. Developed my professional skills regarding how to communicate and act in a working environment

I was given a reasonable amount of responsibility, such as being allocated and asked to work on multiple projects some which were plant wide. Being the only Engineering Placement Student there were some times when I had more responsibilities than other students. I was often given tasks and asked to solve it independently. As I was one of the people who had experience with a statistical analysis package I was often required to produce reports regarding the process capability which were often shared with the customer.

Due to coronavirus restrictions unfortunately I was not able to have a handover with my predecessor so I had to learn a lot on the job. Fortunately I was able to shadow and learn from the two IPL's that we had as well as the two engineers and maintenance technician who were happy to answer any questions. I had reviews every three months with my direct manager in which I was given constructive feedback as well as a rough plan on what I would be doing for the next three months before the next review. I was encouraged to solve problems on my own, however to ask for help if I did not understand something instead of being stuck.

There was a good atmosphere. Everyone got along with each other and worked well together. When all us students led charity events we would get participation from everyone which was really nice. The atmosphere when coming up to deadlines was good as there was a lot of hard work done and everyone really came together. The company culture was good especially on faurecia day which was a big success. Arcade games were rented and all the operators and office staff all got involved.

I have found working in a manufacturing engineering roles an exciting and fulfilling experience and would not rule out pursuing a manufacturing engineer role in the future as I have greatly increased my industrial knowledge in this short time and continue to learn new skills every day. The transferrable skills as well as the technical competence and confidence gained will help me for the remainder of my degree and in the future. Overall I was given a good deal of responsibility which was an excellent way for me to grow as an individual.

Yes

Spend the extra time to ensure that your CV and Cover Letter is up to date. Also make sure that the cover letter isn't generic but tailor made for the specific placement that you are applying for, Before the assessment center do the preliminary work and come prepared with questions to ask during the first interview. At the site interview make sure you ask questions about your job role and what kind of projects you will be working on.