Undergraduate Summer Intern Review

The department I was placed in was pretty much a perfect fit for me, as my work directly followed from one of my most enjoyable units at university. The work was exciting, and the department is undertaking a lot of pioneering projects in interesting areas.

Everyone was very friendly, I had no negative interactions with my colleagues. They didn't pander/patronise though, everyone maintained very professional relationships and I was treated like a regular member of the team.

The review process throughout the placement was excellently structured, with regular opportunities for formal and informal feedback.

The project I worked on had busy days and slow days, however as the placement progressed I got busier and busier. If I had a slow day however, colleagues were happy to pass me some reading or non-menial jobs to do.

For my project it was relatively self-contained, which meant I was responsible for ensuring its success. The other work I undertook outside of this gave me opportunities to directly contribute to the success of other projects as well.

Learning about the project flow, and how to properly plan out a project has already assisted me in university, and will be invaluable when undertaking larger tasks later in university and beyond.

Pleasant, if a little quiet. This wasn't an issue however as everyone is busy, and I'd prefer to see jobs taken seriously than goofing around all the time. It wasn't dreary though, people relaxed when they didn't have a lot to do, but everyone understands when it's necessary just to get their heads down and work.

Every intern I spoke to said the placement had given a great opportunity for work, they were given great amounts of responsibility, clear goals set out early in the internship (if they weren't already considered before the start), and a consistent review process.

The company had some mandatory training modules when arriving there (for new starters), but there is a wide range of opportunities for training, and managers are generally more than happy to let you go on one of the courses. The training can be run in or out-of-house, depending on the module, and there are whole teams dedicated to running courses to inform the relevant business sectors of things they need to take into account.

I'm waiting on a contract at the moment, but they only get the allocation numbers late October/Early November. However it's clear throughout the placement that as long as you work hard and get along with colleagues, there shouldn't be any issues in getting a job afterwards.

The interns were mostly housed in halls at the University of Coventry, and there was a large number of social activities throughout the placement. It was a lively atmosphere, and a great sense of camaraderie amongst the interns.

Cheap, the halls were ~£900 for the summer I think, which is a lot cheaper than equivalent housing in other areas of the country.

There's only really one club in Coventry, but Birmingham is close by, and there are a good number of bars in the centre instead.