Student engineer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed each day of work as I was working with a great team and learning about so many different aspects to working on site which couldn't have been learnt at university in a lecture hall.

The project was in the very first stages when I first started so the team on site was very small so it was easy to get to know everybody and learn a bit about everybody,

I worked closely with another engineer who passed on any knowledge he believed could help me in the tasks I was undertaking. The knowledge could have been technical knowledge, health and safety rules or supervising pointers for managing jobs to get them complete on time for example.

I was normally on my feet all day walking around site carrying out tasks such as surveying, stock taking or checking on productivity of works occurring on the site. There were just a few days when the site was relatively quiet and the main things I could do would be to watch tasks in progress.

As there was only one other engineer on site for the majority of the time, I was very busy with jobs that required engineering knowledge such as setting out, leveling and measurements of trenches with ducts to produce a map of services put into the site,

My studies at university are mainly consultancy based with a lot of theory to learn, but the placement will help with my surveying module next year and all management modules.

I wasn't told the exact address of my placement or the contact details of my manager until about a week before my placement started which made it difficult to organise accommodation. Apart from that it was very good as I was always busy on site, learning a lot and I was involved in many activities.

I have a 'mentor' in the company who I met twice during my summer placement. We discussed the development objectives needed to gain chartership which is my aim. Then I looked in more detail at the objectives with the engineer on site to begin ticking off some sections.

I wish to work for the company upon graduation and I am planning a year in industry next year with the company.

There weren't any other students on my site but I kept in contact with a few to talk about placements. There was a good scene amongst my colleagues with an evening in the pub on my final day of work.

It was fairly cheap where I lived with some restaurants which were very good value and a cheap cinema. There was also some nice countryside to exercise in (for free).

I was living a 40 minute commute from my site of work and there was a small social scene where I was living. However, my site was in a small village and you had to travel to nearby towns for more than a pub and corner shop.