Mechanical Engineering Placement Student Review

I have very much enjoyed my time at British Sugar and it has given me a real insight into what it is like to work in industry. I have met some great people who I have really emjoyed working with and I have had lots of great opportunities.

I fitted into the company very quickly despite my concerns about working in such a male-dominated environment. I have constantly been told how much my work is appreciated by managers on all levels as well as the technicians.

My supervisor has been very supportive of me and is always willing to help me and give advice. I have also been given a great deal of support by other managers in the department, the technicians and the operators who are always very happy to help me.

I am always being given new tasks to complete as well as longer term projects to work on. As soon as I finish what I have to complete I can always ask for more work or help the technicians around site if I have some spare time.

I was given a great deal of responsibility and certainly a lot more than I expected. Whenever my supervisor is away I am tasked with managing th engineering team which includes scheduling jobs, attending department meetings and supervising contractors.

What I have learnt at British Sugar will be of great value to me in future. Before starting work there I had no idea what it was like to work in a factory environment and had no industrial experience at all. I now feel much better prepared for when I finish university and start graduate jobs.

Everyone in the office was very willing to help each other and were always very positive towards me. It is a medium sized office with around 12 people but when management meetings were taking place or the managers were out on the plant I was sometimes by myself in the office.

The placement scheme at British Sugar has been running for many years so it is well established and structured. I was the first placement student in my position so I didn't have a handover period (which the other placement students had) but it was still well planned.

I went on quite a few training courses whilst at British Sugar including Behavioural Based Safety, Explosion Awareness and Risk Assessment training. Also at the beginning of the year all placement students went on a 3 day lean sigma course on project management.

The managers within my department have mentioned to me on many occasions that they would like me to return to British Sugar once I have finished my university degree and they have arranged for my placement contract to be extended.

I have been living with the three other placement students who work on the same site which has been great. We have specialist days with students from other sites as well and socialise with them outside of work as well.

The area is very cheap to live in which has been good from financial perspective. However, the factory I worked in was quite far from any towns so commuting costs were high and I had to have my own car in order to get to and from work.

The night life around the area is not great and the best nights out have been when we have visited placement students from other British Sugar sites who live in larger towns such as Norwich. However, the nights out have been fairly cheap which is good.

There were very few opportunites for socialising that were organised within work other than the Christmas party and the End of Campaign party. I think there may be some factory sports teams but I was not involved in them.