Power Academy Scholar Review

It was a great and very enriching experience in all aspects. When I started the internship I was not very convince about the idea of spending 2 months of summer far away from home. But when I finished I could have not be happier of doing it. Not only by all the things learned and the great times at the office, but also all the people I met during this time.

I felt very valued by all my colleagues, not only by the students who were living the same experience as me, but also by the team that I was working with. They made me feel that what I was doing was important, encouraging me and providing me with constructive comments, at the same time that they offered me their help in everything I needed.

Throughout the whole time my internship lasted I was given excellent support and good guidance by my line manager. I was given a project for my own, which no one to really work with or compare and discuss results, but thanks to my managers' help I never felt alone and I knew I always had her to support and encourage me.

On a daily basis I had a perfect balance of work. I was never stressed about the amount of work that I had to do, but I was also never sitting back and doing nothing. Before coming to work every day I knew what I had to do and how much time each activity was going to take me.

During my internship I was given a lot of responsibility, I had an individual project to develop by myself where at the end of the internship I had to present a report with conclusions so that the team where I was working needed to make a decision about the continuation of the project. This also including visits by my own to substations where I had to talk to engineers, and a lot of calls to other companies related to the project.

The skills I developed and the training I received are skills for life, skills of which I have already benefited in my first weeks of my fifth year of university, many of the things I learned in this internship are topics that we are dealing with in class right now. But not only in the most technical and theoretical aspects of my degree but also in essential aspects for any engineer as time and project management for example.

The general atmosphere in the office was great. National Grid office in Warwick is an incredible place to work. The office is huge, lots of people work there and there seems to be something going on every day. The atmosphere is very relaxed and that is noticeable when it comes to work.

The organisation of the internship was fantastic. HR was always making sure we knew what we were doing, that our managers were helping us and that the amount of work that we had to develop was adequate. Halfway through the placement we had a interim review with HR and our managers to see what we were doing and what could be improved, and a final review to let us know how we had done it during the internship.

National Grid offered many opportunities for training and development during the internship, not only with things were needed for the development of our project, but also offering extra opportunities to for example, be able to work with a certain software. To go to many of these activities, the only thing necessary was to enter your name in an online list.

Future employment prospects within the organisation are very appealing. After this internship I know the place where I want to work is National Grid. Starting your career in one of the most powerful companies in your area of interest is a dream opportunity for anyone. Also having in mind the size of the company and the amount of opportunities they offer.

The social scene amongst all the students was amazing. We meet everyday after work to do different activities.

The cost of living and socialising in the area was good, we could do plans everyday.

The nighlife was very good as well. Leamington Spa has a few good clubs we went to and also Birmingham is only half an hour in a train.

Every day after work all the students we were doing the internship we meet to do different activities. As it was summer and the weather was quite good we could do a lot of outside activities.