Summer intern - Electronics Dept Review

The placement was enjoyable as the people were incredibly friendly and there was always some work to be done or something on site you could investigate. However, there was no practical electronics in my role which would have increased my enjoyment, especially as it was advertised as an electronics role.

When I performed work well it was always notably praised by my colleagues and I was never put down for my mistakes, only corrected. They were always friendly and open for conversation over lunch and I was included in invites to team dinners. This made me feel very welcome in the team.

Any work I was given that I was unsure of would be explained by any of the team if I asked them for help. I worked closely with my manager also, meaning that I could confirm his expectations at any time and ask if I felt I was missing any data I didn't have. Anyone in the office was happy to point out people I had to find if I hadn't met them yet also.

There were often times when I had little work to do, but this was mostly due to the scope of my departments work being too long to give a 3 month intern to complete. It would have been preferable to have been given more work, but thanks to it being a large site there was often other things to be found to see/do.

I was given charge over a project to manage and I felt largely responsible for pushing it, but I feel it would have continued fine if a bit slower without my input. I then found a project in another team where I was trusted with a large amount of spec and signal design which was left entirely up to me,

I gained a lot of knowledge of project management and forcing compromise which will be very useful for any future work in companies and group work. It offered less practical skills development as far as my degree is concerned however, but I feel those skills are well covered by my studies anyway and the team skills are more vital.

The office was fairly relaxed with a good work ethic. Everyone was friendly and whilst the hierarchy was respected, the managers were all friendly and approachable. Several members of the team were particularly friendly and became good contacts for the future. There were occasional high stress days when the office was tense due to project hiccups, but nothing that wouldn't be expected in any work environment.

I was placed into a department which wasn't utilising my electronics skills whilst other departments had interns who struggled with electronics and coding due to lack of experience and studying non electronics degrees. Buddies were to be assigned to us, but the process wasn't started until out 3rd and final month.

The graduate scheme looks like a good choice, and offers a good salary. The potential for promotion and salary increase is also very good and there are bonuses such as discounts to various attractions. If looking for a well paid desk job, this organisation is a good choice. It also offers employee car schemes to managers.

Most of the interns all stayed in the same block of student accommodation for the summer. This meant that we were incredibly social with each other and went out together on weekends. We also had lunches together within the department and could discuss each others internships openly.

Compared to london which I'm used to as a student, rent was incredibly cheap and all rooms offered at the JLR recommended accommodation had their own bathrooms. We all lift shared which made transport affordable. Local attractions were also affordable and the local club was very cheap making socialising easy.

As a group the interns all organised our own events and