Vacation Student Review

Arup has a very friendly work environment. The office is comfortable and spacious with none of the noise and distraction you might expect from such a large company, it seems designed to provide a relaxing influence letting you concentrate on your work. The staff are all friendly and helpful, making you feel supported in both your learning and your work.

The amount of work I was given started quite low on the first day. But as I started to demonstrate my strengths and weaknesses, my supervisors started to give me jobs that were more tailored to me. This meant that by the end of the first week I had a lot of autonomy in my work and felt like I was making a significant contribution in the projects my team were tackling. Whenever I was set work, the purpose of the job and the aims of the project were thoroughly explained. I felt like I was making a real difference in projects and the progress in achieving the clients goals felt very tangible.

Whenever I had a problem understanding something there were lots of friendly colleagues that I could go to for help. For most jobs there was a comprehensive filing system which I could navigate to find report templates and internal guidance documents. This meant that, as well as having people to ask for help, I could learn on the go and I never felt like my own inexperience was hindering anyone working around me.

At Arup I learnt a huge amount about technical report writing, in particular about proper background work. This will greatly increase the quality of introductions and abstracts in my reports for university work (an area in which I've always struggled). The large multidisciplinary projects Arup are involved in have provided me with a broader sense of perspective for electrical projects. Going into my next year of Uni, this will help me develop a broad understanding of the work I do, appreciating how electrical problems interact with mechanical problems.

There was almost no rigid structure saying what I would do over my 4 week placement. Instead I was given the opportunity to interact with project managers around the office, hearing about the work they were doing and helping out in any places where both I and the project manager felt like I could make a reasonable contribution. This was much better than a rigid schedule because it is much more in line with how the other employees in the company get involved in projects: by demonstrating a high quality of work and a good attitude making both colleagues and clients want to work with you again.

The Office had a friendly atmosphere where everyone wanted to make progress in their work so achieved something everyday, but were allowed to manage their time/breaks independently meaning there was always a friendly conversation going on somewhere. Every few weeks lot of colleagues would go out for a few drinks after work, this meant that you spend a lot of time socializing with your coworkers.

There was a large degree of autonomy in the work I was doing and I was encouraged to learn on the go. I preferred this to training because it gave me tangible goals that I wanted to work towards whereas I find training for training's sake to be a waste of time. I got the chance to visit some construction sites so I was provided with a large amount of Health and Safety training.

Whilst there was a lot of work such as final reports for clients that I wasn't allowed to directly contribute towards, I spent a lot of time gathering and collating data that enabled calculations and engineering work. I was almost always interacting with a team with shared goals making me feel like I had the same attitude and mind-set as my co-workers. It is not at all difficult to see what a full time role would be like.

The first thing I did in my induction was read Ove Arup's 'key speech' in which the company's founder lays out the direction and ethics of the company. Whilst at first read I found it to be overly philosophical rambling, as I got involved in the work of the company it quickly became apparent that Ove's words have a huge impact on the way my co-workers conducted their everyday work and provided very real direction on how I should conduct my own.

Whilst I had already decided on a career in electrical engineering, the placement provided a clear vision of what exactly it is that I'm working towards in my degree. I find this to be very helpful as jobs in engineering cover such a wide range of different specializations and an 'electrical engineering job' is very hard to visualize without any relevant experience like the that which my placement provided.

The vacation student level pay grade was much better than a young student can expect to find in his/her job. Whilst the placement was in itself very rewarding, the funds to buy a new computer at the end of it were also pretty nice. I wish I could carry on working for the company full time.

All the work I was doing required me to interact or work together with other employees, whether by email or face to face. This was brilliant for getting my name/face out there with potential future colleagues. It also helped to stop any of the work or projects I was working on from getting tedious.

There were planned social events every couple of weeks or so, these gave the opportunity to meet new people as well as unwind and have a bit of fun. In addition to planned events, the central location of the office meant that there were plenty of opportunities to enjoy lunch out with large groups of co-workers.

Not really.

Absolutely. The work environment is perfect for interns or for graduates, giving a good balance of encouragement to complete jobs and projects to a high standard and keeping relaxed and stress free. It is important to note that working in the company seems very different for working in other engineering companies. The placement seems very tailored to the Arup way of thinking.