Placement Engineer Review

My role involves working on a range of projects across multiple disciplines and teams. The role I have within projects can vary, sometimes touching on design and sizing calculations, other times management and coordination tasks, and even on site practical activities involving data collection and asset inspections. I am also part of the office LEPP and social club committees, where I collaborate with colleagues to host environmental campaigns and social events for staff.

My time at Mott Macdonald has profoundly improved my soft skills and confidence working in teams and collaborating with new people with different skillsets and backgrounds. During projects, I have further been exposed to new technical design principles and developed skills using novel, industry standard software. Networking and professional development have been big points of focus for me during this placement, and my experience talking to experts, watching online webinars, and attending events hosted by engineering bodies has helped me build strong habits in pushing my own CPD.

Workload fluctuated, and at times found myself either with very little work, or several pieces of work given to me all at once. However, this is could be due to the fact I started during the end of a revenue cycle, as well as the volatile nature of consultancy and the bidding process. When I was assigned onto projects, I was given a considerable amount of responsibility, for example, carrying out site investigation and concept design calculations independently - while always being able to ask for help. The level of responsibility within each project I took on certainly increased as I time went on throughout my placement.

Everyone within my team and within the wider office community were always willing and available to offer help and guidance. Whether this be with technical work, more general tasks , and support with settling into the office and meeting people.

There is a culture of fun as well as respect in the Dublin office. Being an office made up of staff with a such a colourful and diverse range of backgrounds and nationalities, there is a real sense of inclusion that I have noticed. It was easy to integrate into the office community even being a lot younger than most staff, as the general atmosphere is light hearted and playful, with the buzz of jokes and informal conversation always noticeable when working in the office.

I really enjoyed my placement. While the technical work wasn't as consistent as I previously hoped, the soft skills I have developed from interacting with engineers and experts in the office and wider company have come on leaps and bounds. I will look back on fondly on the friendships, experiences, memories and professional connections I have gained throughout this placement, and hopefully carry them with me into my future career.

Yes

My advice would be to not stress too much about the interview, especially the technical aspects. I have learnt that Motts are looking for well rounded engineers who can work effectively and get along with others, so a demonstration of good people skills and a willingness to learn is equally if not more important than simply demonstrating good engineering knowledge.