RESE engineer Review

There are ups & downs in all jobs, but for the vast majority of my placement I was busy doing interesting tasks which involved testing & development on prototype vehicles.

I got on really well with the majority of the team, and felt I could easily go to them with any issues I had and come away with help, without feeling bad for not knowing.

A great balance of guidance & independence. If support/guidance was needed, it was offered, however I wasn't blindly lead through my tasks, so I picked up some very useful knowledge which allowed better completion of later tasks.

As with all projects, busyness comes & goes. At times there wasn't a lot to do, usually because of having to wait for others in the business to complete their tasks before my tasks could continue.

My main project was to lead the creation of a working demonstration of a feature that may be included in the near future. As this demo was to allow senior managers & board directors to make their decision on if the feature will go into full development, my work was very important to get right, and therefore a lot of responsibility.

In general, there hasn't been much in the form of direct use of skills that will help in my degree. Saying that, however, the gain of general workplace knowledge & project development will give me an advantage doing my final year project & when I start working after I graduate.

There are periods of time when the office became very serious, however the majority of the time the atmosphere was light hearted & jolly, which makes the day even more fun!

An induction day was held during the first day to introduce all the placement students to the business & give an overview of the operation etc. During the first week or so I encountered a variety of issues. Such as my IT user account being unable to log on/not having access to the correct programs etc, my access card also did not function correctly, meaning I could not get through the site turnstiles (I had to enter through the security gatehouse instead). Once these issues were overcome, however, everything has run very smoothly.

My manager was very willing to put me on any training & development I felt would be beneficial.

I am applying for a place on the graduate scheme after how much I have enjoyed my placement.

Due to the number of placement students, regular social events took place, from hanging around in the park on a sunny weekend to a night out together. The team social scene was also good with regular activities/meals out.

Cost of living for me is fairly similar to whilst at University. A nearby private student halls (Liberty Living) does a special offer for summer placement students which is close & suitable over the summer.

I didn't partake in much in the form of nightlife, however those I lived with have and seemed to enjoy themselves!

I didn't look myself, as I didn't wish to do anything extra to what I already do.