Graduate Engineer Review

This is very changeable as the current scheme is on 6 month rotations so my daily work has changed significantly in each of these. From model based systems engineering in my first placement, to requirements writing and compliance work in the second, to civil engineering and calculation on structures currently.

Yes many. I have gained a greater experience in MATLAB, have seen the beginning and end of lifecycle (and their importance) with regards to requirements and design approvals, and have worked empirically within civil engineering to gain experience with the tasks required of this field too. The scheme has offered a great way to gain a very broad reange of experiences in areas I would otherwise never get to work in.

Broadly speaking, the work has been enjoyable and the scheme run reasonably well. Changes to the scheme are for the worse (removing rotations) but thankfully don't affect those already on it like me. Sometimes work remained uninspiring but 6 month rotations helped as It wasn't a permanent position. Mostly, lower enjoyment was due to being placed in a bad location as opposed to the work being bad, although this did occur too.

The structure was broadly speaking well conveyed with shortfalls lying mostly with my involvement with actively learning about the structure of the scheme. Management if comprehensive but has the unfortunate holes in it where there are less able staff members in a position completely failing to convey something or doing so very ineffectively.

There is very extensive support for staff at the company for issues that may or may not have been as a direct impact of their work. Thankfully I have not had to use any of these services but they exist and I would not have any issue in locating or applying for them.

The support is mostly passive, with tools given to help us track our progress but these are supplemented by quarterly reviews to track our progress and ensure we are recording it to a suitable degree (and preparing for final assessments). The structured university course we are doing through Cranfield University is mostly self motivated though, but passing is a prerequisite to end employment).

Much of the formal training (Cranfield) is not directly useful in my day to day job but I can see how aspects would be useful in the longer term as our careers progress and mature. I have seen how Cranfield modules which I have now done would have been useful in placements I did before the module. At the moment though, the commitment required to the university work detracts from the work I do as it takes me out of the office where I would otherwise be in and working.

There are many on certain (larger) sites as there are more people to gen involved but these all seem to be driven by employees independently from the company. The social network does tend to be much more influenced by the people on site and the ones you work with as opposed to a business drive for certain things, however that is not a bad thing either.

Yes

While the grad scheme is going through some changes which I see as being negative, I can only base my response on what I have experienced as the new changes may actually bring about a big positive in the grad schemes perception. However I would warn them of the changes and what positives and negatives I see with them.

As above, I would warn them of the changes and how these would impact the way the scheme would run and what they could get out of it. apart from that I would make them aware of the onboarding process as there were SIGNIFICANT issues with this across the board for all people I have spoken to (not just those with more awkward circumstances like me).