Industrial Placement Student Review

Item: Industrial Placement Student at Mott MacDonald
Rating: 4.3
Author: Anonymous

at Mott MacDonald

Placement (10 Months+)

Civil Engineering

Croydon

Review Submitted: August 2024

Overall Rating

4.3 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

3/5 - Overview of Role

4/5 - Skills Development

5/5 - Support and Guidance

5/5 - Company Culture

3/5 - Overall Experience

5/5 - Future Career Prospects

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.

Working with members of the team and independently on tasks I am capable of. A very wide range of projects has been covered over my 12 months here ranging from the civil asset management of a stadium, to maintenance of rail. I have worked on niche design scenarios for elements like noise barriers and unique design scenarios like the track-structure interactions of viaducts.

Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?

I was given responsibility when on site to communicate and direct the material testing contractors
I felt like a respected member of the team when completing work and receiving feedback, rather than being treated like a junior all year

Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was

3/5

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?

The basics of finite element analysis software's LUSAS and STAAD.
How to use standards associated with rail projects
About the impacts of fatigue and cyclic loading
How the UK draining network is managed
The structure of an engineering consultancy and how profits are made

How would you rate the training provided during your experience?

3/5

How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?

4/5

How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?

5/5

Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development

4/5

Support and Guidance

How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?

Bi-weekly meetings with my line manager where I could raise my concerns. The principal account lead was also often available however I did not feel the need to contact them.

How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?

5/5

How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?

5/5

Company Culture

What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?

Overall very positive. Would be better if some senior engineers could make more of an effort by introducing themselves and speaking to the placement student as there are some members of the team that I still have not spoken to

How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?

5/5

How would you rate the social opportunities?

5/5

How would you rate the diversity initiatives?

5/5

How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?

5/5

Overall Experience

To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?

I enjoyed my placement most when I was working contributing valuably to projects and with members of the team who trusted me to carry out fulfilling tasks. At some points I felt my potential was restrained by being given mundane, repetitive tasks and also often being light on work, although I understand that this is often the nature of consultancy and time sheets. Additionally, having no time allocated in my work week for compulsory University related tasks like producing my 4-month and end of year reports, my 13 topic Professional Development Record, a poster summarising the placement and meetings with my University Placement Officer placed a strain on my personal time. However, more positively, I really enjoyed learning from my colleagues and working on a range of projects which will look great on my CV and provided me with a wealth of experience.