Year in Industry Engineer Review
at Spirax Sarco
Placement (10 Months+)
Mechanical Engineering
Cheltenham
Review Submitted: July 2025
Overall Rating
3.6 /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!
4/5
-
Overview of Role
3.5/5
-
Skills Development
3.5/5
-
Support and Guidance
3.8/5
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Company Culture
3.5/5
-
Overall Experience
3/5
-
Future Career Prospects
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
Heavily focused around the bellows plate which involved looking through CAD drawings of the plate itself or manufacturing tooling. Using new drawings I had produced myself, I would then manufacture new prototype parts and pieces of tooling by submitting jobs to our toolroom or contacting contractors. Once the job had been completed and I had received the parts I would then conduct trials and visually inspect the parts with my team.
Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
Initially during my first few months here I felt quite restricted as I was still getting to grips with the everyday processes that occur here. These were processes that I needed to learn in order to progress with my project. After this stage however I was left with the action plan of my project, and was responsible for completing the tasks that were outlined to me in it
Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
4/5
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
During my time here I have greatly enhanced my CAD skills, learning to use new tools on the software which will benefit me immensely on my return to university. I've also developed my presenting skills, throughout the past year I have completed numerous presentations to different cohorts of people. This has also taught me to adapt to the situation that presents itself to me.
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?
3/5
How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
4/5
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?
I benefitted massively by working with a team of 5 other engineers, all of whom I was able to call on if I ever got stuck with my project. I worked closely with our process engineer who has walked me through numerous inspection and drawing processes, to the point where I can now do them independently.
How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
3/5
How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
4/5
Company Culture
What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
The culture and atmosphere that I saw throughout the areas that I worked in were a good balance of serious and relaxed. My team stayed very productive throughout the day, but were also able to share a conversation unrelated to work on the odd occasion. This provided a god mix and allowed to me get through my workload efficiently and accurately
How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
4/5
How would you rate the social opportunities?
3/5
How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
4/5
How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
4/5
Overall Experience
To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
My placement at Spirax Sarco consisted of mostly enjoyable aspects, all my colleagues I got on with very well. My workload sometimes left me waiting at my desk which could cause frustration, but when I was busy and on my feet I found the project work to be intriguing. Living outside of Cheltenham also meant that it was difficult for me to attend social events easily.
Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
4/5
Please rate how your experience met your expectations
3/5
Future Career Prospects
Please rate the future employment prospects at Spirax Sarco
3/5
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Spirax Sarco to a friend?
No
What advice would you give to others applying to Spirax Sarco
During the assessment centre stage I would encourage applicants to be themselves and to be as confident as you can. For someone working in UK supply like me, I would say new joiners should try and get on their feet as much as possible. It really helps building connections with people in person instead of over teams.
