Electrical Engineering Placement Review

I enjoyed bits, and found bits too boring. When I had plenty to do and was using my brain a lot, I loved it, but to get to that stage I often had to scrabble around sorting everything out for myself and almost forcing people to give me work to do. Once they realised I was capable they were more willing to give me work to do, so from that point of view it got gradually better.

By the end of the placement we were all chums which was great. I introduced the lads (who were all Romanian or African) to Irn Bru, while they fed me their delicacies (one that sticks in the back of the throat was Romanian smoked sheep cheese). Again, it took a while for them to get to know me as you'd expect, but we all had a mutual respect for one another by the end of the placement.

I often had to push for information/help, but when it was given it was of great quality. I had two managers which made things more difficult, but my on-site manager was more than happy to involve me in meetings to give me experience, and to help me set up meetings with important figures in the industry. My line manager was like an email hotline, and usually had an answer or a contact who could answer my questions.

As busy as I wanted to be, in a way. I got stuck in as much as I could and really applied myself to any jobs I was given, and this led to a positive reaction from the office who then were happier giving me tasks to do, knowing that I'd do them conscientiously and to the best of my ability. Some days were really slow, as sometimes there just was nothing to do, but I filled these with writing personal development reports and creating a high quality LinkedIn page, so the time wasn't wasted.

Towards the end of my placement I was given responsibility for several safety-critical tasks without overly much supervision or mothering, which was great. I relished the challenge, and took the responsibility of finding other new jobs to do.

The prioritisation, team work and communication skills that I've built will be invaluable in future team and individual projects at uni, and my deeper understanding of technical drawings will definitely come in handy further down the line.

The chaps were all friendly and willing to have a laugh, but when there was work to be done there was a definite air of concentration. There seemed to be a never-ending run of anniversaries, birthdays, and other occasions that demanded that cakes be brought in and much eating completed.

To be honest, the placement wasn't brilliantly set up. I was on a joint project with several other companies, and my line manager only found out I was coming three working days before I arrived. I only found out where I was going TWO working days before.. Not brilliant when accommodation needs to be set up. Costain also seemed to expect me to have a never-ending cash flow, asking me to jet myself halfway across the country at short notice and "put it on expenses". I ended up in an overdraft at one point and was constantly asking my relatives for short-term loans to survive until my first pay-day, which was halfway through my ten week placement. A lot of the tasks that were set by Costain for me to do were not at all relevant on the placement that I was on due to the nature of the office I was in, and this was a problem that several of my placement colleagues across the country encountered. Quite a lot of room for improvement.

I was given guidance as to how to complete a personal development review, but no further training was offered other than mandatory safety briefings. I would have enjoyed doing a course or two to give me some extra qualifications, making me worth more to the company in future.

I'm poised to be offered further placements by the company based on my performance, which I will take as it gives me the chance to experience several different engineering sectors. I'm willing to give the disorganisation another chance; it can only get better..

We only met up at the initial induction; any further communcation was off our own backs. I kept in touch with about four of the thirty placement students, and enjoyed speaking to others who were equally confused/having similar problems to me at several points in the placement.

I was living with relatives, so rent was fairly cheap, and I spent most of my time with my group of friends in the area. Socialising was good, although I'm not the type that's into nightclubs and suchlike if that's what you're meaning.

Can't comment, as I don't know

I was invited to play football with the lads from the office which was a good opportunity to get to know them all a bit better in a non-work environment. Other than that, I spent a lot of time with my church group so was always busy.