Process Engineer, AAD (Autmotive Aftercare Division) at 3M

The following is a Graduate Review for 3M.

3M scores 3.6/5 based on 61 reviews.

All reviews are based exclusively on results of feedback from employees from 3M. Employees are asked to rate 3M on a wide range of work place topics, which is broken down through star ratings on the right hand side.

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What are the Best and Worst things about your job?

Best

I've been able to really get an idea of what role a process engineer has within the site. I've also dealt with many different opportunities within my role and have been able to feel like my work is of importance and validity to the site. I've also been on 4 weeks total of training which has been amazing and I've gained skills through the training that I can hopefully apply later on when back in university. I was also able to go around the UK and visit the other 3M sites which was a great opportunity to see if there are any other sites I'd potentially like to work at.

Worst

The worst thing about my job would be the lack of communication sometimes apparent when working in a production site. This is not specific to my role or the production site I work in but rather something that needs fixing in most production sites all over the world, but a lack of urgency and communication in some cases made it very difficult to progress further with important work. I also found it hard at times working with mainly older men being a young female, but again this is something prevalent to most production sites. My colleagues were nice and welcoming but there's most definitely a culture and age gap that can sometimes be uncomfortably apparent.

What is the annual salary for this role?

Starting salary: £17,000 - £19,000

Current salary: £17,000 - £19,000

What hours do you actually work, on average?

Start: 08:00

Finish: 16:15

What advice would you give to someone applying to this role?

Try to be as well-rounded as possible, working in supply chain is almost impossible if you have no inter-personal or social skills. Good grades are important but if you can also show you do other activities outside of your degree such as being a member of societies/volunteering etc. this will separate you from the people applying that only have good grades on their CV and not much else.

Do you have any interview tips?

Be personable and friendly, and talk about your greatest achievements in both your academic career and outside of this. The questions I was asked were generic interview questions such as 'what are your greatest achievements', 'give us an example of when you overcame a challenge', 'what attracted you to this role'. My advice would also be to google typical interview questions and come up with brief answers for a variety of questions that you could then elaborate on if they are asked in the interview. Think of particular moments that you could talk about during your life when you've had to work with difficult people or you've overcome a difficult module etc. as these particular stories can be tailored to suit a variety of questions. Also do a little bit of research into the company itself as this will show a valid interest in the company. Look at their about us/ethics pages as these should give you facts about the company that you could mention during your interview, thus showing you have an interest in 3M.