Structural Engineer Vacation Student Review

It really exceeded all my expectations, and not only did it offer me a good idea of what the job would consist of, but I was also given great responsibilities and the opportunity to work on live projects. This internship also helped me shape my career goals more succinctly.

Everyone on my team helped me integrate really easily, and even though the whole group was quite large (>30 people), I felt being part of the team, and could communicate with everyone comfortably. The colleagues all knew my name, and we all worked as a team really well. My superior also offered me the opportunity to present to my structural engineering colleagues the work I had done.

I had three supervisors at different levels, and they were all extremely helpful, and made me feel like my work really mattered. They offered me the help and support I was looking for, and together, we managed to make my work much more meaningful and useful to the project.

I was very busy, I had a lot to do, and the structure of the work throughout the weeks was very well planned out. I felt a very steep learning curve, and my work at every stage fitted nicely in the whole process, allowing me also to do a variety of work related to my field. I also went to the group meetings, and interacted with colleagues who were not part of my team in order to advance my work.

I felt like what I did really mattered. They gave me the opportunity to work as a proper colleague and contribute directly to the project, including the main structural model they were working on. I felt that what I was doing really mattered, and it was very motivational. The responsibility gave me also made me feel a new kind of passion for the work I was doing, and I would do overtime voluntarily in order to ensure that the work I was doing would be finished on time in order to contribute to the project.

I learned a lot of skills from the work I was doing, and also from the help my colleagues and supervisors provided me with. The great thing about Arup is that there were many lunch talks from various teams that also taught me a lot, and gave me knowledge beyond what I was working on that was also very valuable for my field. I have also learned how to use software that I am currently putting to use in my third year research project. This internship also reinforce and narrow down what I want to do for my career, so it was really more than helpful in many ways.

It was a great balance of serious, intense work and friendliness. I felt relaxed, but was in the mood to focus all the time, and felt that the atmosphere really encouraged me to work. Everyone is super approachable, and I felt really comfortable working with my team and group.

The overall internship was extremely well organised, however the HR had a lot of trouble getting the necessary information to all the interns that started at the same time as me, since we did not receive the details regarding the start day. My team really put effort into designing the structure of my internship, and not only did I feel my work mattered and was useful, but it also fit in well in the frame of the project, and I also gained a lot of experience and knowledge from it.

My team was the most helpful, from my supervisors to my colleagues, they would always be there to help, and made me feel like my work and I really mattered. They gave me valuable advice, and precious knowledge. I strongly recommend doing an internship with them.

My team seemed quite eager on my performance, however HR seemed more objective, since I think they didn't really get feedback from my work at that stage. It's a big company, and I hope that HR will be able to coordinate with the team I worked in, and I do hope to get a job with them after I graduate. I will have to see after my next summer's work experience though.

I had lunch very often with the fellow placement students, and we did also go for some drinks occasionally on Fridays after work. There was also a summer party organised for the structural engineers across all teams, and I was also invited to that. It was great fun. I also ran with a few colleagues from my structural team for a yearly 5k run Arup organises. Every Friday, there is also cake for our group funded by everyone, which is quite nice too.

It was pricey, as Central London would be, but I was lucky enough to stay in the flat I use usually for university, since my university is just down the road from where I lived, so that was pretty fuss free.

We would usually just go to the pub with the colleagues, but I didn't always attend these gatherings after work on Fridays.

These opportunities were more available for full-time employees, however I still had access to the lunchtime talks and the circuits weekly training sessions. HR doesn't really brief us regarding the opportunities available though, but I managed to get some advice from colleagues in the office.