Mechanical Engineer Undergraduate Placement Review

Due to the nature of the company I can't go into specific detail. I worked on the design of mechanical systems. My day to day tasks include updating/ reviewing system documents, implementing design changes, reviewing calculations, creating documents for parts. I took part in several "stretch" projects which are additional jobs outside the scope of my team.

I have improved my problem solving and communication skills.

I was given responsibility of my own system, albeit quite an insignificant one. I had specific responsibilities within most of my stretch projects but day to day I feel like I really didn't have much at all.

The early careers team were unfortunately not very helpful. Often I'd ask a question and receive no response. My team were helpful but I felt like at times they didn't really know what to do with me. There was on occasion where I specifically asked for help on an issue and nothing was done about it which lead me to stop asking for support.

I did not enjoy the culture. There is a real lack of diversity within the team and no one seems to realise. Everything is done incredibly slowly which almost encourages laziness. You are reworded for doing extra hours but never given extra work, so you actually get paid more if you spent more time doing the same task. I think Barrow-in-Furness itself is very behind the times and this reflects back heavily into the business.

I enjoyed learning about submarines and also just getting some experience in an engineering role. On the whole, I had lots of bad experiences during my time here, some of them to do with work but a lot of them outside of that. I'm hoping to look for something more challenging and fast-paced for my future role in a better location with a more inclusive workforce.

No

They don't expect you to know everything about submarines, you just need to demonstrate that you have the problem solving skills required to be an engineer. It's a very easy job and there is nothing to worry about. If you're working at the Barrow site don't live in Barrow, live in Ulverston.