Manufacturing Engineer summer intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship, having the chance to put the theoretical knowledge I learned about at university and be able to transfer that into real life situations and problems was really good. It confirmed to me that this is the industry that I want to work in and also the type of job I would like to have.

I felt very valued by my colleagues, majority of people buy into the fact that students doing internships will most likely become part of the graduate scheme. I think this makes them more likely to be patient with interns and also willingly to take time out of there busy schedules to help us. This was something I was not expecting.

I was given both a line manager and a manager. My manager worked closely alongside me on similar projects and became my go to for any help or queries. I would regularly check in with my line manager to give him a general overview of what I had been doing and what I am planning on doing. I think this method works well and is similar to how it would work in a graduate job.

I was busy most days, I was given a number of different projects so if one project became slow (waiting on a reply etc) then I could pick up another project and progress that one. There was days that were slow but I think that is part of working in an office and not necessarily just for interns.

I was given enough responsibility, I was able to take projects in the direction I felt was best and be able to go make decisions about the project and talk to others about these decisions. However if I needed assistance or at the start of the project when I was still getting to understand it, my manager would guide me through it. Which I think works well and is a good balance.

It will motivate me to learn more in uni as the things that we are taught are real world applicable and will help me in the future. It has also made me interested in classes and subjects that before I would not have picked or researched. I think it has also improved my soft skills, skills that are difficult to be taught in a uni environment.

The internship is very well organised from straight after you find out you have the role. HR are in regular contact and take you through the whole process. Starting on the first day is very easy with all passes, IT being set up that day. Also the apprentice association gave an introductory talk into the general work and outside activities.

Future employment is very appealing and the career path is highly stressed from day one. The main aim of doing an internship is to prepare interns for the graduate scheme and eventually a role in the company. This makes Rolls-Royce very appealing as they want you to work for them, they encourage you to come back after uni.

Yes, all the other interns are very social with things happening nearly every night. If you want to do something one night, most likely you can arrange for it too happen and people will happily take part. Most interns would go out at the weekend and explore the nearby area or go out to some bars/have food.

Yes the apprentice association are very active with sports events happening at least once a week. There is also the opportunity to do bigger events like the 3 peaks, paintballing, go karting, sailing, camping etc. Also there is opportunities to volunteer for STEM activities and go to the Royal Air Show for example.