Mechanical Engineering Industrial Placement Review

I really enjoyed this placement. I worked for the year as part of an engineering team which had responsibilities across multiple functions. I was allowed to work in each of these so teh freedom made this placement a highly enjoyable experience

The work I was given became more important as my year went on and I begun to be involved with moremajor projects. by the end of my placement I was involved in co ordinating fulls area shutdowns in which all mechancial and Instrument maintenence had to take place in specified amount of time. I helped develop the plan for this.

My manager was always there to support me if I was struggling with any work I ahd and guide me through to completing it. If I was struggling my manager wouldn't take the work off me, she would help me get the job finished even if it did take slightly longer for me to get my head around it. This emeant that next time i was tasked with something similar, i knew exactly what I was doing

Day to day I had a stream of responsibuilities which run throughout the year adn were continuous such as meeting attendence in roder to co ordinate with teh plant and process teams to work out what was being planned each day, and maintain communication as a team. As I begun work on projects my workload increased but was always managable even if it meant staying late some nights.

As the year went on my responsibilities increased as I gained the trust of teh people around me. By the end I was part of shutdown trams and major project work teams as the engineering representative. This was a great step forward compared to when I started the year.

My knowledge of an Engineering plant increased greatly, having had no previous experience in this field. I learnt about the how pumps, centrifuges, dryers and many others things worked and gained a deep knowledge of fault finding techniques on each of the bits of kit I worked on. I also did a large amount of work on steam systems which required calculations previously learnt at university.

There was a good atmosphere in the office. They were both friends and work colleagues. We often went out as a group during the week for drinks and food which was good as it kept team spirit high.

To begin with I had very little access to internal systems but this was due to training requirements. Once I got settled the organisition was good. I had a booklet to fill out for my universtiy, from works point of view they let me get on with my job rather than thinking of it as a constant internship.

I had a lot of different training in my time at GSK including SAP training in order to be able to use the interla ordering system and montioring system. Many people also gave their time to speak me through processes and train me in their specific field. Such as plant walk around and help with any project work I was doing.

Very appealing. I am currently applying to the graduate scheme which GSK run for mechanical engineers and aso considering coming abck to the site I have worked at for the year.

There was a smaller group of placement student comapred to other sites but there was still 20 of us. I lived with two other students who worked in different areas to me which was good because I wasn't at work with them and then at home with them also.

As I was on the south coast living in Worthing was quite expensive but was manageable with the wage I was paid. Also socialising was reasonably affordable too.

Nightlife in worthing was good for resturants and smaller bars. Actual clubs there was one questionable one. Just down the road is Brighton which is brillaint for nightlife with lots of diffferent bars and a very good clubbing scene

Outside of work I did activities such as sailing and windsurfing with colleagues from work but this was arranged between ourselves rather than through the company. Through GSK there was not a vast amount of activities otside of work