Trainee Engineer Review

I had a good placement overall. The placement itself was not suited specifically to my discipline of electrical engineering, however the work I explored while on this placement was work that could be expected of any engineer and so it was all useful learning experience for me.

Everyone I met in the office was very friendly and took me into the team happily. After a couple of weeks it was like I had been part of the team for a long time. I enjoyed having a bit of banter with the team and easily slotted into the team environment.

My manager was always keen to know what I was up to and that I had enough to work to keep me going. he regularly chatted with me to ensure I was enjoying the placement and gave me any advice if I had any questions.

Peaks and troughs. Sometimes I was overwhelmed with too much work and sometimes I was more relaxed because I had very little to do. It gradually built up so at the start I was a bit quieter and had noit a lot of work and after a few weeks I got stuck in and started getting a lot of interesting work

I was given modicome amounts o responsibility during the placement. The project were happy with me to just take a job and work with it so they entrusted me with a lot of different tasks throughout the project. Evenetually towards the end of the placement I was given a major task of setting up a construction compound which was entirely my responsibility.

Overall the training and experience that I have gained from everyone I have worked with is invaluable for my further development. I've tried to take as much as I can from other peoples experiences to further my own and start to shape my own career path. relating to my particular discipline maybe not but its all valuable experience for future development.

the atmosphere was always light hearted. There was generally never a time when people weren't happy, despite the pressure that some people were under. It was never difficult to talk to anyone about anything and regular lunches in the canteen were had to talk to members of the team.

Initially the placement was setup poorly. I was given very little time between starting my placement and the receipt of my contract which was annoying given I had to move away from home and find accommodation. Once I was in the project and had sorted everything out, it started off slowly. there was very little direction given to the projects as to how to deal with placement students but all it took was one chance for me to showcase my ability and I integrated well into the project and was given responsibility. therefore it all worked out well. the support from the grad team once I was up and running was great and they always were friendly and easy to ask questions of.

Costain had sponsored me through university which was a great help to get me through university debt free. The money I earned over the summer was also a nice little incentive to continue with Costain because it allowed me to live comfortably next to the project I worked on. Through training in the project I completed my personal track safety training with network rail to allow me onto site and completed OLEC 1 training for construction of overhead line equipment

The projects I have worked on with costain have been pleasurable experiences and so I would not hesitate to join costain on a more regular basis once I graduate. There range of experience in a whole host of different sectors appeals to me and could allow me to explore areas I never thought I could. The projects are challenging and thought provoking and challenge even the most capable engineer. This makes Costain very appealing as a company.

Not really. Everyone had to travel into Bristol to get to work and so work nights out were at a premium. people didn't generally stay for drinks after work they were all rushing to get home and beat the traffic. I did enjoy a couple of nights out but not amongst many people.

The cost of living in Bristol was great. I had lived in London last year and the costs in London were greatly increased compared with Bristol. the general buzz about Bristol as a city was appealing to me and its proime location allowed plenty of travelling to south wales and to the south west coast to places like cornwall. Everything was great and the cost of living was the same as what I had experienced in Glasgow.

Good, I lived in the student part of town so it was full of swanky bars and restaurants that you could wind down in. brisotl is a prime spot for student nights out due to the large student contingency attending Bristol university and the university of the west of England.

Not really, as I mentioned before people travelled into work so people didn't tend to stick around after work for too long. There was very little in terms of extra curricular activities outside of work.