Hi, my name is Lauryn, I am a Mechanical Engineering student currently on placement at Merrychef in Guildford.

The company I work for designs and manufactures industrial high-speed ovens for clients such as Starbucks, Chipotle, Subway and many restaurants and cafes globally. My role is a Development Engineer intern; this involves developing new design concepts, prototyping and testing concepts for further development, and creating and implementing change on the current projects.

Self-development

I have been on placement here for 5 months now, and I have learned a lot about the industry that I feel will allow me to ease into a graduate role more confidently. Being on placement has allowed me to develop myself professionally and in different ways.

So far I’ve had the chance to lead many individual projects, which have helped me develop leadership skills, organisational skills, and networking skills, as I’ve had to communicate and organise meetings with other teams within the company. Being in control of what I work on day to day, has also allowed me the flexibility to work on multiple projects throughout the day. If you relate to having a low attention span, you’d know how useful this is.

The many projects I have led vary from designing, testing and sustainability. I’ve also developed technical and manufacturing skills. So, if you’re not too sure of how impactful placement could be for you, I’d definitely recommend it; it’s very different from uni. Being open can help you see if that type of role is for you or open doors for other opportunities instead.

My advice

My advice is to keep looking! I found my placement through the Surrey Pathfinder after applying through Gradcracker and companies directly. I also sought support from the Careers team and my personal tutor for my CV, cover letter and interviews, which helped me secure this placement. I had many interviews before I got this role and that helped me develop my confidence in applying. You also have a lot of time to apply, I secured my role in June. So don’t give up if you’re struggling to find one.

When starting, I tried to keep a positive and clear mind to aid my experience. I was open and intrigued to learn as much as I could, and that’s something I’d advise future applicants to do when applying for a placement. Being in a new environment can be discomforting, but if you’ve worked a job before, this won’t feel too different. Even if you haven’t, just be open to learning and observing how things operate within that company.