Engineering Intern Review

Working in a department which oversaw thousands of engineers of several functions provided a great insight into the company as a whole and the different elements of the business. The internship provided an excellent learning opportunity with developing technical aerospace knowledge and interpersonal skills (presenting and collaborating with senior management). Overall, I was very happy with the job, culture and development opportunities within the company, as such, I am very keen to return for the graduate scheme.

Managers (direct and indirect) explained how the work I was doing would support the wider project and/or business. Felt greatly valued with opportunities often offered and workloads tailored as to ensure what I was working on was not only benefited the business, but also contributed to supporting my personal development goals. Personal development is a key theme all managers seemed to focus on for those they came in contact with.

All managers (both direct and indirect) seemed very keen on providing advice regarding careers or technical guidance when asked. Culture within Rolls Royce is very much of a mentoring nature where managers naturally offer advice and opportunities to fulfill your career, chartership goals or general interests. Although the workload was high (personally felt this made me learn more), managers were very observant and often provided support when help was needed.

First couple of weeks is rather slow, lots of training and introduction talks both within the department and company. Following this, I was given ownership of two small projects which filled my work schedule from then onwards. I was still able to attend company research centres, and several RR manufacturing sites. My manager felt this would be highly important in developing a wider company knowledge (something on reflection I greatly appreciate him doing).

Being given ownership for two small projects resulted in ideas I came up with ultimately being rolled out globally (after gaining appropriate approval). In producing the plan and gaining approval, I often was in discussion with several senior managers spread across the globe - with my manager (also in the room/call supporting me) often was the only person aware I was an intern rather than an employee. This approach was a great development experience!

Having witness theories taught in lectures applied in the real world is always useful in reaffirming concepts. I'd performed internships at other companies prior to working at Roll Royce, from this I found that the development of interpersonal skills and knowledge of how projects should or shouldn't be run is key in both gaining future jobs and improving both the pace and effectiveness at which I'd been able to contribute. I expect the knowledge and experience gained over this internship will be greatly valuable for many years.

Not sure I'd call the office fun, but I did get on very well with all the other grads/interns that worked in the same department. Also the approachable nature of the office meant I would feel at ease in speaking to anyone PA to exec if I felt unable to progress with a problem without their help. Office also had samosa Wednesdays (very common across the company), this lunchtime activity was a great opportunity to meet new people within the office in a somewhat informal setting.

The initial one/two weeks of training is run centrally by a graduate/intern team, this is run rather well. The majority of the internship is organised by your manager (usually with the help of another employee or graduate in case they are out-of-office), mine was very well organised with department introduction packs sent to me prior to the internship and a clear set of objectives/tasks outlined for me so I could potentially start of the projects from day one.

Rather than purely being developed via training courses (which there were quite a few), my manager would put me in scenarios which would develop my technical/presentation/communication skills in a controlled environment e.g. presenting to him and his other manager colleagues - from which I would be given constructive criticism and other opportunities to demonstrate improvement, Beyond just investment in terms of money (training courses), the time investment (via mentoring) I felt was exceptional.

I have fortunately been offered a position on the graduate scheme following completion of my masters!!! The grad scheme I had been told provides a great insight into the various parts of the company (often ranked best engineering grad scheme in country). Colleagues I spoke to recommended undertaking the graduate scheme instead of applying for a particular job (direct entry), as they felt the long-term career progression is greatly helped by the exposure to different parts of the business.

All the interns/graduates from my department (and others nearby) would have lunch together. On several occasions we would also all go for a night out in Derby. There is a apprentice, intern and graduate social club (can't remember the name), I personally didn't find the need to get involved with this given the 10ish interns/grads in my department together were enough of a social group to organise events.

Given my parents' home is in Nottingham (only 30 minute drive from office), I decided to live at home and commute in daily. I found several interns/graduates commuted in from Nottingham to Derby, as such, car shares are easy to arrange. There is also the (quite cheap) Red Arrow bus service which goes from Nottingham to Derby Station, where a Rolls Royce-run bus service then takes you to the office entrance. Nights out in Derby are relatively cheap (comparable to Birmingham or Nottingham).

Derby isn't particularly large, but does have enough pubs/clubs to make do. Everything is relatively cheap. Nottingham is only a 30 minute drive/train or 45 minute bus away. A little biased, but I personally prefer Nottingham. Birmingham isn't too far from Derby either, with a railcard trains aren't too expensive.

If you don't ask in this respect you won't ever find out about them!!! If looking to join any of these when having arrived, take a look on the company intranet, it'll usually send you to a website, email address where you can find out more. Rolls Royce has lots of clubs: sports teams, flying clubs, dance clubs......basically like university-level quantity.