For Business and Management student Kirsty Boulton a placement at Siemens Mobility was something of a homecoming. Working from their base in Chippenham in Wiltshire, Kirsty would be only a stone's throw from her childhood home.

“It’s somewhere that people’s dads and uncles have always worked,” she told us. “It’s such a big company in such a small town, you’ve always known someone who’s worked there.”

We caught up with Kirsty about her placement and winning the Siemens Mobility ‘Intern of the Year’.

What is Siemens Mobility?

Kirsty found that although a lot of people had heard of Siemens, they didn’t necessarily know much about Siemens Mobility.

“A lot of people associate them with washing machines and things like that. Siemens Mobility make trains and railway infrastructure. Working there, you become a bit of a trainspotter. Going up to London, I’d look out the window and spot things we make in our factory. Everyone I travel with gets fed up with me pointing things out.”

What was your biggest challenge during your placement?

Transitioning from university to placement presented its own set of challenges, especially with the hybrid work model.

“I started university in lockdown, so all of my first year was meetings and lectures on a Teams call. When I got to my placement and realised that a lot of it is hybrid I thought, Oh my God, how am I going to cope with this like another year?

“I started off going into the office as much as I could, especially in the first couple of weeks, which really helped me get to know people. But the office is quite big and some days it was pretty empty. When you walk in and you're the only person within view you realise maybe I could be at home with the cats on my lap. For me, the balance is good. Even when I was working from home my manager and other members of my team were just a call away.

“I've actually spoken to some of the interns for next year because they've just started. I told them, don't come in on a Monday because you'll be sat by yourself and probably the same if you come in on a Friday. But if you can try and come in all the other days in the week, it'll be really good for you.”

What lessons did you learn?

Being a young woman in a workplace with a predominantly older male demographic brought its own uncertainties for Kirsty.

“Confidence was something I struggled with initially because I'm 20, I'm a young woman. This is my first job outside of retail. So it's really daunting to be there in meetings, especially in the first couple of weeks, with people throwing around rail-specific abbreviations and terms.

“It wasn't easy for me to put my hand up, but my manager and my team were so good at saying there are no stupid questions. It doesn't matter how old you are or what you do. What your background is. There are going to be things you don't know when you first start a job.”

She had this advice for others in a similar situation:

“Don’t be afraid to talk to people. No matter how high up they are within the business, just remind yourself that they have been in your shoes.”

How did your experience studying at Sussex help you?

Kirsty explained how her business degree helped prepare her for her placement.

“It’s been really nice to see the theory applied in a practical setting. I've been writing strategic plans and using Pestel analysis and Porter's five forces and all the things I've read in my textbook. It's reassuring to know that it’s been worthwhile and you do know your stuff.

What was it like winning ‘Intern of the Year’

Kirsty was taken by surprise when she won the award.

“Some of my friends from the graduate scheme were joking on our way up to the event, asking have you written a speech? And I was like, of course not!

“And then we were sat there and they called my name, I couldn’t believe it.

“It’s nice to know that the work you've done and the effort you’ve made hasn't just been to keep busy, it's actually because the business needs it and it makes a difference.”

What would you like to do in the future?

We asked whether her placement had had an effect on her plans for the future.

“I've got a completely non-technical, non-engineering background. I’m doing a business degree and I've never really been into STEM subjects at school, so the fact that I'm interested in the rail industry really surprises me. But once you're in the factory and you see it all being made, and then you get out on the tracks and on the train, or you sit at a station looking around, you see all these things that you would never have paid attention to before. And now you understand everything that goes into it, all the processes, it's really interesting.

Siemens do quite a good graduate program. So I'm hoping that my year there has put me in good stead for that.”

Find out more about work placement opportunities.