Placement oppertunities?

[Andeh13]

Im a second year student on an Automotive course (beng) and next year i have the chance to go on a placement year. This weekend iv deceided to start seriously looking but so far the internet hasnt brought up as much as i hoped. Iv googled every car manufacturer i can think of and so far only found a few applplications.

Monday ill be going into Uni to ask around, but i was really hoping to make some headway this weekend. Has anyone been in the postion of trying to apply for engineering placements? Any advice for a newcomer?

Many thanks guys!

[0iD]

I can ask my friend at Ford Dunton (Essex) research centre if there's an address to write to for them?

[Andeh13]

I would be hugely gratefull if you could mate, even a phone number or e-mail address would help!

[0iD]

NP, i'll drop them a line. Will PM you as & when

[Webby]

Contact your Uni Careers centre/office they will have loads of people you can contact speculatively or know of any placements currently advertised.

Also check Gradcracker and Prospects aimed at graduate jobs but some placement stuff there as well

[IBM]

Phone the companies up. You're much more likely to get a response if you can get a helpful receptionist/operator on the line and get transfered through to someone in a particular department who would then refer you to someone in th HR department....

[chriswood_7]

Ive been in this position myself and the best thing you can do is write letters of application. I reckon for every ten letters you send one or two would read it and may take it further. But lets be honest about it, this is difficult and you have to keep your head up and keep trying. You need to show a lot of enthusiasm which sometimes means doing stuff that you dont want to, or doing stuff for not a lot of money.

Also something else worth considering. Having an Automotive Engineering degree does not tie you down to automotive/car manufacturers. Its generally a Mechanical Engineering degree with a few different modules. Companies like Caterpillar, JCB, Terex etc also like this type of degree. Why not broaden your opporunities by thinking about different industries?

Where are you based? You have to remember that the car industries is in a slump right now, and a lot of companies are facing redundancies so your chances are few and far between.

If you need any further advice please pm me,

[JayBird]

Contact your Uni Careers centre/office they will have loads of people you can contact speculatively or know of any placements currently advertised.

Also check Gradcracker and Prospects aimed at graduate jobs but some placement stuff there as well

It's funny gradcracker has popped up here as i'm the Senior Web Developer for it.

We have a few automotive companies listed at the moment so take a look at those.

You can view companies that have current work placement opportunities by clicking here.

Also, as mentioned by chriswood_7, having an Automotive Engineering degree does not tie you down to automotive/car manufacturers. The vast majority of employers will be looking for Mechanical Engineers. You can see a list of companies and the disciplines they are looking for by clicking here.

[b0redom]

Probably worth employing a spell checker too if you're writing letters of application....

[digit]

General Motors (who i'm on placement with) offer manufactoring positions working on the production lines at Ellesmere Port (makes the Astra) and in Luton at IBC Vechicles (makes the Vivaro/ Spacestar/ Trafic). Might be worth looking into. Alternatively if your interested in crash testing you could explore that avenue working for GM at Millbrook proving ground.

Whether they are still going to be about though ...

Application process isnt to bad; all online based which is then followed by an assessment center consisting of 2 interviews, a group activity, and a presentation.

Toyota also offer placements, not sure about whether they are on the manufactoring side of things though ...

[Andeh13]

sorry for the delay guys, been a bit busy recently. Have just applied to GM and corus, just waiting to see what i hear back. Will have a look through all the web sites mentioned!


thanks again for all the help, its much appriciated!