I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Caterpillar and the variety of projects that I have been a part of and led… and I’m so glad I pushed myself to apply!
The application process
Caterpillar did a talk before one of my lectures where I learnt more about the company, I then found the placement role online through Caterpillar careers. I made a profile on Caterpillar careers and uploaded my CV along with answering a few questions. I then had a video interview and then finally an in person interview.
To prepare for the interview process, I researched the STAR interview technique and read up on the Caterpillars values. Caterpillar also have a news page so I had a look around that too.
My placement experience
For my placement year, I’m working in health and safety but I have learnt how to make apps and metric dashboards so for the past 6 months I have been moved around multiple departments to create apps/dashboards for them.
I have had a huge range of experiences from learning to weld, learning to drive a fork lift and articulated truck and developing data management systems. This has given me the confidence to realise how much I can achieve when I rise to challenges. My work involves team work and problem solving on a daily basis and I have had several opportunities to present my data management projects to both the senior management team and the MD of my site in Peterlee. The vice president of my division has also seen my work. This has boosted my presentation skills and confidence.
The highlights of my placement has been the variety of work I’ve been able to do and the number of different departments I’ve been involved with. I feel like I’ve been given a very well-rounded experience at Caterpillar.
I also had excellent support from my manager and the rest of the health and safety team. I was the first health and safety placement student at Caterpillar and so they gave me a lot of time, working with me to find the best use of my skills.
I've found the transition from study to work was actually very straight forward. It was a bigger challenge moving away from friends and university life but Caterpillar run a young professionals scheme where you can meet with colleagues after work. I ended up being both the sustainability and community chair for young professionals at Peterlee. I was also able to join local clubs and so was part of a Durham University Choir where I got to meet a lot of students.
I have been given the opportunity to lead on several projects during my year with caterpillar and present these at a senior level so I feel that my leadership and management skills have really strengthened. I have also had the opportunity to gain two formal qualifications in health and safety so it has been a very worthwhile year.
My advice to future placement students
Definitely apply and don’t confine yourself to a placement that is strictly your degree. I have had a lot more benefit going into health and safety and bringing my engineering principles in. My aim for this placement was to gain confidence, experience in management and to get better at public speaking and this is why I applied for the role I am in. Consider what you would like to achieve from a placement and then find a role that suits you. A lot of the work I have done has also still been engineering, such as designing and building tools to be used on the production line and conducting research projects.