Vacation Student Review

I absolutely loved my summer placement with Arup - it was perfect in every possible way, and it would dream-like to continue doing this as a permanent position.

My colleagues took a very good care of me both work-wise (spent their precious time explaining everything that I needed to know or didn't understand) and leisure-wise as I've been invited to and included in all team socials and meetings, tea-break chats and holiday experience story-telling, so I felt as a valuable member of the team.

I have received all support that I needed during my placement. Any uncertainties were explained to me and any skills I was lacking, e.g. using drawing software, were helped to be developed. If I came across anything I wasn't feeling sure about I knew I can just go and ask, which gave me a feel of security.

Besides a couple of days when I had barely anything to do, most of the time my workload was perfectly balanced - no gaps of no work too get bored and not too many tasks to get stressed.

I was given enough responsibility to feel as a valuable part of the team but not overburdened with it to panic with stress.

The skills and training gained throughout the placement came in extremely useful during my studies. Having the practical experience of the engineering design process helped me massively when making decisions in conceptual design projects given as university assignments, and the knowledge f computer software came in handy when producing drawings or calculations to support my statements.

The atmosphere in the office was just great! It may have been caused by the ease of summertime but having lunch altogether and going for a walk around the office afterwards, or chatting with someone over a cup of tea felt simply amazing.

Can't complain about a thing!

I could not imagine receiving more.

I was offered a contract and gladly signed it - one of the easiest decisions in my life!

Lunchtime chats and walks with fellow placement students and other graduates were the best networking opportunities.

I was staying at my student accommodation, so it was extremely cheap, and the commute was affordable too. Socialising in the area wasn't expensive at all as the office is located at the outskirts of the city.

It's a short bus/train ride away from Birmingham, where there's more than plenty nightlife opportunities!

From sports to music and sustainability - did not have enough time to exploit them all!