Undergraduate Process Engineer BIW GME Review

The aim of my department was to design a process which takes pressed metal parts, then use various technologies and joining processes to produce a completed bodyshell. My role involved overseeing the procurement, mechanical installation and commissioning of critical commodities such as robots. There was also a large element of liaising with suppliers, vendors and other functions within the company.

I have gained a very good technical understanding of automotive manufacturing, specifically the technologies used within a body shop. I have had a lot of exposure to CAD software and tools used in the creation of cell layouts such as VISIO. I have also consistently used agile planning software such as JIRA. Most of all, my soft skills, such as the ability to present out and communicate in meetings has improved massively.

Purely in terms of the responsibility I was given, I could not fault my placement. I was immediately given a substantial amount of work and soon became the first POC for a large network of suppliers and vendors. I represented my department within multiple forums, including presenting out in plant-wide showcases every other week. I was in charge of multiple workstreams that were critical to the progression of the overall project my department was working on.

I received a good amount of support from my team from onboarding through to the end of my placement. Everyone within my department was very friendly, approachable and helpful. However, the amount of information to take in initially was overwhelming and poorly explained in parts, taking me a while to grasp fully. It was often difficult to access my line manager.

Almost everyone I came across within JLR was very friendly and supportive, especially in my home site of Halewood. The office I worked in was fairly relaxed, with working hours relatively flexible. As it was a manufacturing site I did not have the opportunity to work from home often. Overall the company culture and work atmosphere were good with regular sessions scheduled to raise issues and concerns.

There were parts which I enjoyed and parts I didn't. I was always busy, with various different workstreams which developed my technical knowledge and behavioural skills. The placement was well structured with lots of opportunities for the undergraduates to experience work in different parts of the company. However, while given a lot of responsibility, many of the tasks that this encompassed were relatively monotonous and didn't utilise the studying completed at University.

Yes

Take the time to research the role you want to apply for. This probably involves attending a careers fair or trying to reach out to a contact within the company as this wont be available readily online. As JLR is such a large company, the variation in different roles is massive, and only some suited to your interests.