Junior Systems Test Engineer Review

We have 2 team meetings each week to keep us updated on new test requests coming in and how we are getting on. We regular receive new projects (sometimes only hardware testing, sometime only software, or both) we propose, review, carry out our testing and share our findings with stakeholders. We can test by following a checklist and by carrying out open testing on the subject/area to be tested. We report all defects into an application, where we share the scenario the defect was found, testing info, for software engineers, so that the can make the software fixes required.

The main skills I have develop have to be my communication skills. At university you can get away with being more or less social, at the end of the day the exam you will be going by yourself. But in an engineering company this is not possible, you need to be able to talk, explain what you are doing and what is maybe going wrong, because you will never know everything, if I have an electrical problem I will be going to look out of an electrical engineer for support, same if the problem is mechanical and so on

From the get go I was treated exactly like everyone else, I was not a "student", I was a junior engineer. When something was not working well my team mates would listen to my suggestions during the investigations, even if I was knew. Just a couple of months into my placement I was already carrying out individual projects (not too large ones) and presenting my findings to different people in the company. It was nice being the project lead and at the same time it is nice to be respected in a team.

For the first 2 months I shadowed the other student in my departments who has been here for the previous here and was about to leave. He gave me an introduction to the company, explained to me what we do in a daily basis, tough me the basics of the machines we test. He helped me familiarize with the company's software. Also my manager booked regular review meetings with me to ensure I was getting enough support during my placement and to ensure I was progressing well.

This company is a beautiful place to work in, everyone is so calm, relaxed and always happy to help. People have passion for what they do here, they are interested and excited to see new printer functionalities come in, new testing equipment, in my team we are excited to find software crashed! This company doesn't focus on speed of work but quality, learning, developing, this is certainly a beautiful place to work for a student only just entering the sector

I was very stressed for the first few months. I wanted to be as good and efficient as possible, I wanted to prove myself and I ended up getting overwhelmed and burned out. I did not need to do any of what, I allowed myself to take the time I needed to learn new things and with knowledge I became faster and more confident which made my overall experience so much more enjoyable. Also the fact that this company employs 12 students each year is so nice.

Yes

Do not try to be as fast as you can if that means the quality of what you are delivering gets affected. Focus on learning and becoming proficient in what you do, in the long run this is the most efficient way of working, you will be faster the more knowledge you have. Also don't underestimate the power of connections, you need to know people who work in your company in all departments, you will eventually need their support. Also, be a team player!