Power Academy Scholar - Summer Intern Review

I fully enjoyed my placement with National Grid. The project work was both fascinating and rewarding and my colleagues were very hospitable. National Grid HQ is also probably one of the most pleasant engineering firm offices in the UK; the aesthetic and atmosphere of the building is akin to a university library. The friendships made with the other students on my internship program also contributed to making my experience at National Grid enjoyable.

It is important to appreciate the significance of the tasks that the professional engineers at National Grid are working on; at times colleagues would disappear for weeks at a time on international factory inspections or site visits across the UK. The engineers I worked alongside were very accommodating and kind but with a 2 month placement, this lack of continuity within the office made it hard to build friendships. Having said that, most of the interns were in a similar boat and we were able to form a little community and help each other through our time there.

Regrettably, I had a unique set of circumstances which meant that the support and guidance from my supervisor was not at the standard of my fellow interns. I had a shorter placement period, during which my supervisor was absent for almost half of the time. The first chance I had for significant feedback was in my “final” review.Whilst I did not have the best mentoring from my supervisor it was merely due to the circumstance; the lessons learned from my experiences will also make the situation less likely to repeat itself.

There is always, always, somebody to talk to or something to visit when on placement at National Grid. As an electrical engineering student I had the opportunity to visit the control centres, substations, and transformer scrapping yards; things that beforehand had remained an abstract concept taught in class. The company is so vast, with many experts in different power engineering fields, you could meet with someone new each day and gain a new piece of knowledge each time. Trying to absorb what I was learning from this immersion alongside completing my project kept me fairly busy each day.

The project I was working on was to investigate the impact of space weather on power transformers. Solar storms, the sort that produces the aurora borealis, can saturate transformer cores and may lead to malfunction or damage. The work I performed during my placement will contribute to the National Grid’s review of space policy and was not inconsequential.

The skills I had the chance to develop during my placement were predominately focused around time management. Initiative and project planning were crucial as I worked towards my time sensitive goals. The habits which contribute to successful time management are especially useful for university where it can be easy to slip into a more relaxed routine.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous question, National Grid HQ is unlike any other office that I’ve heard friends from other companies describe. Nobody is committed to use the same desk each day and the floor plan and design has the atmosphere of a university. This move away from the Dunder Mifflin style of office makes it a genuinely pleasant place to work. There is also a feeling of real cooperation and openness within the building, no doubt fostered in some part by the positive interior design.

It was really well organised. We had HR and site inductions, our security passes were easy to obtain, laptops and software were (for the most part) available from the start. We regularly got emails sent to the group of placement students updating us and it was also very clear who was available to speak to if you wanted to ask a question. Other people from different parts of the business regularly either organised talks for the placement students or invited us to talks that were already taking place.

The personal training and development is a big part of the placement and I found it really well done. You are assessed as a placement student against criteria to make sure you are developing so it's clear what you should be focussing on. It's quite easy to get opportunities to develop if you seek them out, whether that be delivering presentations, attending talks etc. I did really get the impression that HR do care about your development as they emphasise it a lot and there is much done to help you.

Future employment prospects with the company are very appealing. There is a progression route from Power Academy to the graduate scheme available. We were given a large amount of information about the graduate scheme during our placements and it sounds excellent. The careers that the scheme can lead to also sound very interesting and diverse. Ultimately, the company is one that I would like to work for so I would be very interested to be offered the graduate scheme when my time comes at the end of the Power Academy programme.

There was an excellent social scene. Most people lived together and were very good at organising things to do. We met up usually once or twice on evenings mid-week and would meet up at weekends as well. We did pub quizzes, went to the park, had barbeques, went on nights out. The people were great to spend the summer with. To anyone considering applying to National Grid based in Warwick, I would strongly suggest living in/near Leamington as this is where most people stay and it makes socialising a lot easier.

We were lucky in that the placement students I shared accommodation with were able to get a short term summer let on a house which was very cheap for the area, but if you aren't as lucky then rent in Leamington can be pricey. In terms of day-to-day expenses it's much like other places, you can do it as cheaply or expensively as you want. There are very affordable decent bars, restaurants and cafes so socialising is easily do-able. I managed totally fine on the placement wage, although I appreciate we were lucky with rent.

There were enough bars and restaurants that are affordable and decent so it was easy to go out. There are only a couple of clubs and they're not the best but probably no worse than the average university town. We did a few pub quizzes which were good. I was never bored at weekends and I think there's enough stuff in Leamington to suit most people for a summer. It's also easy to get to Birmingham and reasonably easy to get to London so you can go there.

As in the previous answer, there wasn't much formally organised outside of work but we organised lots of stuff ourselves. It was also possible to join sports teams or other clubs that were posted on the noticeboard - I'm not sure if anyone this summer actually did as we were only here for the summer but the option was there.