Intern Review

I really enjoyed the internship and worked on a great mix of projects. The team were very welcoming of me and I was able to work with a large amount of people. The work I was provided was extremely varied including calculations, report writing, attending meetings, presenting STEM mornings to local school children and bid work ensuring each day was different.

My colleagues valued me and I got on with them all very well. They all helped me when I got stuck with certain ideas and saved work that would be appropriate for me. The team were happy to socialise outside of working hours with both a welcome and leaving meal and pub visit.

I was assigned a "buddy" from the first day who was extremely friendly and always welcoming of my questions. I didn't feel intimated to ask questions and was supported immensely to broaden my knowledge by reading around the subject that I was working on. My buddy was always there to help me in both personal, industrial and academic queries.

Each day I was given plenty of tasks with a meeting with my "buddy" every other day to ensure that my work load was appropriate. I was able to amend deadlines if two projects clashed and was provided with plenty of opportunities to develop professionally and technically if I had time to fill.

During my placement I was able to compose Ground Investigation Reports (GIR), Geotechnical Design Report (GDR), Preliminary Sources Study Reports (PSSR), optioneering case studies, bid work and some geotechnical design. This was a perfect amount of responsibility as it allowed me to work by myself using skills learnt at university whilst asking other engineers / geologists for help when required.

I was able to take part in the Construction Skills Certificate Scheme broadening my knowledge of site work. I was actively encouraged to to read articles and watch videos that other members of the team thought would be of interest as well as participate in on line learning resource activities and watch internal webinars.

The atmosphere in the office was pleasant with a nice level of background chat. There were regular cake sales and tea and coffee was provided. The open planned layout encouraged communication and the internal atrium coffee shop a nice place for internal meetings. The floor was just a single team and it was very easy to talk to other divisions in the same team (Water, Ground and Environment).

Future prospects are good inside the organisation and it is clear that graduates quickly progress through the specialised academy. Events are often organised and there are a lot of learning and development programs. As a result working with Atkins in the future would be very appealing to me as it is clear that they would be able to offer a supportive environment to gain chartership.

I worked in Bristol which is a fairly expensive city to live in. However, the free buses provided by Atkins ensures that employees can work in any area of the city, potentially lowering rent. The average pint price is around £4 in a traditional pub however the city has got a lot of cheaper establishments such as Weatherspoons if required.

The night life in Bristol is one of the best in the entire country with a mix of evenings for everyone. There are many pubs for quiet evenings along with bars especially in Gloucester Road and the city centre. In terms of night clubs most genres are covered in Bristol with jazz at the big chill, cheese at Lizard Lounge and dance at Motion.