Summer Student Review

I would say the summer student programme was highly rewarding and enjoyable. I managed to get the chance to work on various types of projects as the workload for the office was high at the time and there was always something to do. There were also site opportunities which made the programme more exciting.

The office atmosphere was very welcoming and they made the effort to make me feel comfortable especially when I first started. My line manager was conscientious and spent time explaining software and the company values and way of working. Overall, everyone seemed friendly and they were always happy to take some time and answer my questions.

I was positioned next to my line manager and therefore the guidance was provided each time I faced a problem whether it was technical or just a general query about procedures within the company. I also had a 'buddy' assigned to me who helped me through the induction process and provided me with tasks to undertake.

Each time I finished a task there was something else that required doing and this was a constant theme throughout the summer as it was a relatively busy office. They seemed to be understanding of a summer students capabilities and there was not much stress in terms of getting tasks done in short periods of time.

Plenty of responsibility in term of preparing documents and engaging in report writing, However, I did not get the chance to get involved in any of the calculation tasks. I would say the work was getting more interesting as the weeks were passing as I was trusted with more engaging tasks.

I found that my internship was an extension of my course to a certain degree as my project for stage 2 was based around bridges. My report writing skills were improved over the course of internship as I mostly got verbal and sometimes even written feedback on the tasks that I had done, this gave me a better insight of how engineering reports should look like.

It was generally friendly which was useful as it meant that there were plenty of people to talk to and I got to find out about different projects that different teams of the office were working on at the time. There was social communication between colleagues throughout the day which made the atmosphere seem less dull.

When I arrived on my first day my station was already ready for me. I was given the induction programme to work through on my first day with my line manager and 'buddy'. They then provided me with tasks to undertake starting second day which showed organisation. However, I was meant to work on the Highways department of the office for the second half of my time there which was cancelled due to poor organisation. Structures team were happy to allow me to continue in their division which was nice to see.

They sent me on site on a number of occasions to experience different locations and got the chance to meet some of the colleagues there which gave me a better insight on what environment I would like to work in after university. They were keen to answer any questions I had about the industry.

There are graduate opportunities within the organisation and they take the fact that you have done the summer placement with them into consideration. After having spoken to other graduates at the office I came to the conclusion that I will be applying for a graduate positon when the time comes and I believe their benefits are amongst the best in the industry. With offices across the country, you could start your career somewhere close to home which saves the relocation hassle.

There were no other summer students, however the colleagues were sociable and there was an 'end of project' staff meal which was organised by the company.

I was living at my term time house throughout the summer as it was possible for me to commute. It generally seemed affordable.

I did not experience the Nightlife as I was not living in the local area.

Some of the colleagues played Badminton regularly at lunch times and there was also football opportunities in some evenings.