System Engineering Intern Review

I really enjoyed my year at HP and working with my team. I got to partake in a wide variety of experiences, which helped develop my knowledge from university, and also learn new things which will benefit me in my future career.

I felt very valued by my colleagues, as the work I produced was used higher up in the organistion, as part of meetings and decision making. Members of the team relied on the work I produced and felt comfortable using it within their meetings.

Guidance / support was always available. I started with a 1 month handover period with the previous intern, who trained me and showed me what tasks I would be doing throughout the year. The team were all very friendly and supportive, which meant that I could ask questions at anytime and always had a positive response from them.

I was generally quite busy on most days. Some days there was less to do, and on those days I tried to cover off some work in advance to create a balance. Stress levels were quite high at times with tight deadlines, and many people contacting me at the same time, but I prioritised what needed to be done first and pushed other things to later, allowing me to manage the pressure.

I was given a lot of responsibilty throughout the year. The work I produced was all sent higher up within the organisation. I ran many projects, from beginning to end and also helped in parts of the company that were not specifically withinn my role.

I have developed on many skills during this year. Firstly my technical skills which I have been developing whilst at uni as part of my technical course. I also got a chance to develop of my communication, presentation, people, work ethic, time-management and many others, with the wide variety of tasks that I needed to complete during the year.

The atmosphere was always friendly, where you could speak to anyone within the office whether or not they were working in the same team or even division of HP. I worked closely with another college, and were able to have a positive attitude whilst also completing the work we need to complete.

The placement was very well organised. From the initial CV and covering letter, to a telephone interview, assessment centre and finally the 1 month handover period. The company has a large intern community which is very well structured, allowing interns to quickly become comfortable with working life.

The company provides a training portal, where there are thousands of training courses available, which otherwise would cost to complete, these are available to all staff. The company would regularly send out emails encouraging staff to partake in the training courses for personal development.

Future employment opporunities are very high, where there is a possibilty to return to the same team as a Graduate, along with a variety of other graduate schemes that the company runs each year. There is a fast track scheme for graduates who have previously completed a placement at the company. The staff are very supportive and want to help by providing references for future career opportunities.

There is a large number of interns who all start together, along with an intern commity that organise various events throughout the year. For example weekly football matches, cake sales, events / parties, and the biggest event being an opportunity to partake in the 3 Peaks Challenge.

The cost of living in the work area is okay, as most interns form groups or 5/6 and live together for the year. As the office is near to a university, there is a lot of accommodation available at a reasonable price.

A lot of events organised by the intern commity in local venues. As the office is near to a university, there are a variety of places for night-life. These are regularly organised by the interns, along with events with other nearby companies.

I was introdued to other people within the organisation for which I worked on projects that did not fit directly into my role. There were a lot of after work activities such as football matches, fitness sessions organised regularly.