Undergraduate Engineer Review

I am an undergraduate engineer, on a day to day basis, I work in the office and labs. I complete engineering design tasks and investigations to support the team I am working on. Everyday is different and the project i am working on may change. I use CAD to design parts

I have learnt many new skills. I have learnt how to use CAD and Teamcenter. I had a 2 day training course on CAD provided via an external trainer. I have had workshop training to develop my practical skills and health and safety awareness. I have developed my analytical thinking skills in the workplace.

I enjoy my programme quite a lot when I am in the workplace because it runs smoothly. However, when I am on a study day, I do not enjoy those days as they are very tedious. Furthermore, I have very little free time as I am studying every night and weekend. This makes me not enjoy it.

The structure of 3 days in work and two days studying is great. However, the reality is you need to spend at least 2-3 hours a night and more on the weekends studying to understand some of the content. Also, it is not very well organised and things change academically on a whim, sometimes without being notified. The lack of organisation makes things stressful.

I receive plenty of experience from my employer. They are very supportive in the workplace and I am able to go to anyone in my team when I have an issue. Furthermore, people in the workplace like to help out and get involved in my work which makes me feel supported.

The support I receive from my training provider can be described as adequate. There are plenty of people who you can go to for support however things are so badly organised the student support advisors who you are supposed to got to if you need support are often occupied with lots of meetings that effect the amount of time they are available to support.

The content of my studies helps me to perform better in my role a little bit because the course is very broad in the first two years so lots of what is taught isn't relevant to my work. Also some of what is taught is contradictory to what is learnt in the workplace.

There are lots of extra-curricular activities. Some of these activities are organised by other students such as the football team which is ran by other people on the course. There are also work social events which have taken place during the evening. These evening events help to integrate you with the team

Yes

It is a great course, despite its flaws, and the opportunity to get hands on experience whilst studying is invaluable. Furthermore, working at a prestigious company would look great on your CV in the future. Also, the benefit of having a wide scope at the start allows you to specialise when you have more of an idea which is great.

I think the main thing is to be honest and confident in yourself. Being enthusiastic and doing your research before interviews is important. Another tip I would give is to present yourself well and explain your thought process when asked questions during technical interviews. Furthermore, make sure you are prepared for every stage of the application process.