Dave: Welcome – can you tell me a bit about yourself?
Rob: I studied Project Design with Professional Experience at Brighton University, which involves designing products for mass market. From my course I’ve tried to work with industry as much a possible as it gives an insight into the real world.
So you looked around for an industry based project. Why did you choose Eurotherm?
I chose Eurotherm as they invited a group of students to the company to look at a couple of projects that they were hoping to progress. Eventually I decided on a project to complete with one of my fellow students. I then had an interview.
So now you are at the end looking back at what you have done over your six months with us, what would you say you have got out of this placement? I’m sure you came into it with expectations: how did those expectations turn out in reality, and comparing what you did by choosing a placement in a company rather than doing a project based in Uni?
My initial feelings of working on an industrial placement for my final year was that it would give me experience in the field and would look good on my CV.
What it has in fact given me is experience in the field but it was more than I expected. It has changed my opinion and given me confidence in what I do in a real situation rather than just designing something for myself and what I think might be a good design.
Did you get the feeling that at the end of it all you had been Doing Real Stuff that really mattered, not an Academic activity?
Yes, definitely.
What advice would you give to students who are considering a placement in industry?
My advice would be to do a placement in industry if you have the opportunity to because it gives you that extra level of support for your degree. The knowledge that I have gained, whether in the field that I want to be in or elsewhere, was an experience that can only benefit me in my future career. I learned things that you would only learn working for a company – a placement is a way of touching on it but not jumping in at the deep end.
