Mechanical Engineering Summer Internship Review

The internship was very enjoyable with an easy environment and great people. An inviting, warm and friendly atmosphere ensured I settled quickly and picked up skills and confidence with speed. The work was also well planned and fascinating to be a part of, fast paced and a variety of tasks to do. The most enjoyable part of the work was the fact I was working with a team on real work that would be used in the future by the team.

Complications arose when I was placed in a different office from the team I was working with; the reason for this was adequately explained as soon as possible. My placement manager sat next to me for most of my internship to help me settle in and give me help when I asked for it. For this reason, overall I felt valued by my colleagues.

I was given decent support by my placement manager, who came to sit next to me and was approachable enough to ask questions. The placement manager however did not always seem to be happy to help or support me with my questions. Overall there would be room for improvement, but it was still satisfactory support.

I was reasonably busy at the beginning month of the internship, however as I completed more work, I became significantly less busy, with additional smaller tasks being given rather a challenging large task, which would be preferred. In the middle of the internship, with many people on annual leave, the work rate was slowed across the team. Overall I was never left with nothing to do; therefore the amount of work given was decent.

I was given sole responsibility of the tasks I was doing, with a presentation to the team or my placement manager depending on the importance of the task, once I had completed it. In this instance the work was superb as it was real work that I felt I had full responsibility over.

The skills I have learnt during this internship will definitely help me in the future. The main skill I have learnt is confidence, in an environment that this was my first introduction to. The placement had improved my existing skills, and forced me to learn new skills in the workplace. I will definitely carry these skills in my life.

The general atmosphere in my office was very quiet – ideal for working, however it was less than enjoyable. Eventually I was moved to the other end of the office where some more activity took place, but from what I was told it wasn’t close to what the rest of the team experienced in their office. The people were nice, I would have thought it was very good as an environment, but since I was told otherwise, the score is lower.

The placement is incredibly well set up, with courses available to take part in, and regular meetings with my superiors. This was very well planned, which added to how much I felt valued in the work place. The only issue with the set up was that there were no other internships at my site, in fact the number of people within five years of my age, was two; a graduate who left mid-way through and an apprentice. So in social regard, the internship was not well set up at all.

In terms of investment, the company gave large resources, including two day courses to take part in, various team exercises with my colleagues. I had opportunities to take part in activities on other sites, which I took and found that a large amount of planning had gone into them. Therefore for personal development and training the extent the company invested in me was much larger than expected.

With the Flexi time and interesting work, the future employment prospects are very appealing. The graduate scheme seems well planned, highly paid, with a variety of work and many opportunities. Therefore BAE Systems is certainly a company I would wish to be an employee of, particularly as a graduate due to the impressive graduate scheme.

The social scene at my internship was abysmal; the lack of youthful people at the site was a large issue for the social scene. The few people under the age of 30 were either graduates that left halfway through my placement or lived elsewhere and were too difficult to reach. No attempt was made to have any kind of social gatherings from the company.

The cost of accommodation was more expensive than I thought it would be, with the food and drinks to eat/drink out being extortionate for no particular reason. At the cost these were I would have been happier to be in London. Fortunately any club or society seemed inexpensive to be a part of, this made the wider social scene easier.

No. Large amount of pubs around filled with people who were tourists or older people. I was told there was a club on the other side of the island, but with the lack of friends on the island it hardly seemed worth even attempting. The Nightlife was vastly different from what I was used to. This is a place that is not renowned for it's Nightlife.

The opportunities were around for people who wished to be outdoors, however the popular sailing comes at a cost. Fortunately the tennis was inexpensive and a sport I was able to play regularly without any issue with ability or different people to play. However a car was needed to get to the tennis club, as the other clubs were too small to play at more than three times a week.