Assistant Controls Engineer Review

I am very happy with my placement. I work for a very respectable company. There are not many Controls Engineering placements available so I feel quite priveleged to be here. I am working in validation which is the area which I excel at most at Universtity. I am given real responsibility and am given practical experience in real industry. I am kept busy and have a lot of interesting work to do. The only real negative about the placement is the town where I am based. It is very quite and is not what I am used to.

I feel like the people that I work with most do treat me with respect. I have shown them that I am capable of working with them or on my own if necessary. However, I do feel undermined by some people who feel as if they are a lot better than me. I believe that they judge me by my age rather than how capable I actually am. Although I am still learning and do not know everything, I think I am more capable than they think I am.

I have been given constant support from my mentor and other colleagues throughout my placement. They are quite approachable and are willing to help me.

I typically work on several large projects at a time. In the Pharmaceutical industry, every step has to be approved before you can move on. So instead of waiting for somebody else to finsish their task, I can work on other projects. When one project finishes I am given another one almost immediately so I am always busy. I would rather have more work to do to get the most out of this experience.

I have been quite a bit of responsiblity for my work. I am allowed to sign documents for approval. It is often not necessary, but I do have somebody else to fall back on and check my work.

I believe that these skills will greatly assist some of my studies. In my course I study design aswell as validation. Because of the nature of the company I have not been involved in designing any systems as this is done offsight. However I have been given a great experience in validation and ways of working, aswell as all of the personal skills that I have developed along the way.

I get along with most people in the office. Although we are all very busy, we can all relax at times. We have organised several out of socials in our department. GSK as a whole has organised other socials for all of the Industrial Placement students. These are generally held in London though which is too far for me to travel.

I think that the placement has been quite well organised. It is the first time that Industrial Placement students have been recruited in this department, so they was learning as much as me to begin with. However I have set up a weekly meeting with my mentor where I can discuss what I have been up to at work and any difficulties that I have.

Naturally I am learning all the time on every project. Whether this is a new skill or practising the theory that I have learnt at university. I have not been on any specific courses or events to develop my training yet. However, I would rather learn as I work, rather been told what to do via a presenation for example.

The company as a whole is very interesting. I am always busy. However I am not sure if it is for me. I have not really been challenged yet, and am not sure if I would be as this is not an engineering company. I have not made any decisions yet as to whether I would like to work here. I will decide this towards the end of my degree.

I think there is quite a good social scene for Industrial Placement students but these are genarally held in London, which is too far for me to travel. We have organised sevearl social events between colleagues which are often subsidised, and are quite fun.

It is relatively cheap, particularly if you are house sharing as I am.

I am based in quite a small town which only has a few pubs and a gym. I do not drink much so I often spend most nights in the gym or playing squash. There is not much else on offer in the town.

There are quite a few sports clubs organised by work and the town. This is good for me as I am quite sporty, but anybody that does not really like sport may struggle to cope to live here. As said before, there are several pubs if you enjoy that more.