Applications Engineer Review

by National Instruments

This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.

Rating

3.9/5
  • The Role
    4.2
  • The Company
    3.9
  • The Culture
    3.6

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

    • I really enjoyed it. It has really developed me as a person, both technically and personally. Technically because of the huge amount of training and knowledge you gain during your year here, and personally because you learn how to work with peers as well as people that are more experienced than you, team leaders and managers. You also learn quite a lot of how businesses work in general, what different departments do within the company and just the general atmosphere of corporate life and working 9 to 5:30.

    5/5
  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

    • The colleagues are really good here and there is quite a lot of camaraderie. We often spend quite a few hours outside work together going to pubs and stuff like that.

    5/5
  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

    • You are given a lot of training, equivalent to 1, 2 or 3 uni modules, in the first 8 weeks, so the learning curve is steep. You are given support then by more experienced people and team leaders. Also, during the job, you can always go and ask more experienced people for their opinion on the different hardware/software queries you have from customers every day.

    4/5
  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

    • Generally the workload is ok but sometimes, for example during the projects mentioned below, you have to do quite a lot of work in your free time. No one pushes you to do so, but quite a few people put dozens of hours of work outside work hours during the 4 months that the projects run.

    3/5
  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

    • Quite a lot. As an intern you do the same thing as grads do, with tiny exceptions. You are speaking to important customers at important companies on a daily basis trying to come up with the best answer for their software/hardware query. There is also a period of 4 months during which everybody (grads and interns) are mixed together into 4 teams that compete against each other to produce the best project. These projects are important and there is nothing stopping you from being a project leader if you are an intern.

    4/5
  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

    • The training that you get in LabVIEW and general data acquisition and control systems is going to be extremely valuable when going back to uni and further in the professional life. You also have the opportunity to sit LabVIEW certifications exams for free.

    5/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

    • The colleagues are great, everybody is young, at least in the department that interns start in. We usually go out together at weekends.

    4/5
  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

    • You start with 8 weeks of well organised and challenging training. Then you have the opportunity to get a 3 month rotation into a different department to get a feel for the whole business.

    4/5
  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

    • The initial training is excellent and very valuable in the long run. Afterwards every week on average there are 1-hour training sessions, but it is also up to you to ask around if you really want to learn more about a specific product/process.

    4/5
  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?

    • Subsidised/Company Gym

    Company Parties/Events
    4/5
  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

    • The job is attractive but personally I think I'd like to have experience with other companies before deciding.

    4/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

    • Interns and young grads regularly hang out together. Most interns and young grads live together too.

    5/5
  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

    • Newbury is in quite a wealthy area, therefore the price of socializing is higher than in other parts of the country. A pint of lager can cost over £4, and burger and chips is usually around £10.

    2/5
  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

    • There are a few nightclubs which are quite popular at weekend.

    4/5
  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

    • 4/5
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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

Engineering

London

June 2014

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