“The university provides a lot of support when it comes to securing placements, from helping write CVs and finding positions for students.”
Thinking about studying engineering at the University of Brighton? One of the biggest advantages of our courses is the opportunity to take a placement year, gaining real-world experience that sets you apart in the job market.
We recently caught up with Tom Preston, an Electrical and Electronic Engineering MEng student who is currently on placement at BAE Systems to share their journey, highlights, and advice for future engineers.
Why choose engineering at the University of Brighton?
“I chose to study engineering at Brighton after seeing how practical the course was, particularly with Robot Wars within the second year. While learning theory is great, there is much benefit from seeing how what is being learnt can be applied to the physical product. It also helps that I’m a Brighton local, so I didn’t need to adapt to the city, which helped me settle in when starting at university.”
How to secure an engineering placement year at Brighton
“What made me stand out from other applicants was my practical, hands-on engineering experience. However, most of this experience was not developed through my modules, but through my time in the university’s STEP Lab. The key benefit of volunteering at the STEP Lab is being able to work within multi-disciplinary teams and learning lots about other engineering disciplines. It would be worth highlighting that last year, all STEP Lab students who applied for a placement or internship secured a spot. Furthermore, my interpersonal skills developed from my plethora of part-time jobs made me stand out, with technical skills only being able to carry you so far. Ultimately, I was able to secure my placement because of the wide range of activities I did outside of the normal modules.
“The university provides a lot of support when it comes to securing placements, from helping write CVs and finding positions for students. However, what I found most useful was the mock interviews. Not only did it give a flavour of the questions that could be asked, but it also helped with how to answer the questions, highlighting what the main aspects employers are looking for.”
What’s it like to work at BAE Systems during your placement?
“As one can expect from working in the defence sector, I cannot go into too much detail about what I do thanks to the Secrets Act. However, this is one aspect of the job I like as, to some extent, the work I do will help achieve national security and also keep the people who protect our nation safe. Alternatively, if I can find ways to save money from the programme, then it could be used in other sectors, i.e. healthcare.
“My highlight from a day-to-day perspective is that, thanks to the team I am in, I interact with a lot of senior members within the programme, i.e. assistant chief engineers, engineering system owners, team leads and deputy chief engineers. I have a more holistic view of the programme, seeing how such a complex product is designed, noting the wide range of unique challenges and restrictions that it faces.
“The best thing I’ve done so far was going to a workshop in Bristol. While I did learn a lot from the workshop, the best part was that I had to travel by corporate jet to get there. This demonstrates the importance of the workshop, as well as my own significance, making it clear that I was having a positive impact on the team.”
Top skills you’ll gain from an engineering placement year
“From a technical perspective, the skill I’ve been able to develop has been open-ended problem-solving. Industrial workstreams do not have a solution fed in from the top (think exams or coursework), so it is imperative to be able to propose solutions and being able to provide clear and coherent justifications. It also requires me to understand what the problem actually is and the wider considerations that feed into it.
“I have also learnt how crucial interpersonal skills are to succeed in engineering. The reality is that you will not know all the answers, so you must be able to clearly articulate your questions and be able to listen and understand answers/feedback from multiple people. I have seen how some people are struggling with their placement year because of their less developed soft skills, with the main caveat being that soft skills cannot be taught, only learnt. Overall, people who thrive in jobs can communicate clearly and concisely with different people and personalities, ensuring to remain patient and not jump to conclusions.”
Student tips for getting the most out of your placement year
“First, do more. Not only will you struggle with the interview if you rely only on your university modules, but you could also struggle with the placement. Whether that be a part-time job or extracurricular activities, do something else to make you stand out and provide more substance to your CV. Also, it will allow you to develop the soft skills that the placement will demand because, in my opinion, soft skills cannot be taught, only learnt.
“Secondly, do not get disheartened when you get rejected. Take the feedback and improve from there, and remember, rejection is a part of life. While I secured my placement quite early, it’s worth highlighting that BAE were the only company to give me an in-person interview. You will find the placement for you, and sometimes it requires a bit of luck.
“Finally, pick a sector you will actually enjoy. For example, the position I currently hold was not the position I applied for. However, I have been able to enjoy most of the placement despite this frustration because I have a genuine interest in Defence and, more specifically, military vehicles.”
Ready to Start Your Journey?
Placements like this give you a competitive edge, real-world skills, and confidence for life after university. At Brighton, we don’t just teach engineering, we help you live it.
👉 Explore our engineering courses and placement opportunities on the University of Brighton website.
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