Engineering Intern Review

I enjoyed having responsibility for critical design and document control tasks - that's when it was really interesting. I also managed to go to Paris to visit the EDF design offices while shadowing my project manager in meetings which were engaging and gave me a great insight into how managers run projects and how the client collaborates with the contractor and designer

Everyone at EDF Energy was really welcoming to me when I first joined and they were always eager to answer my questions and help me learn on the job. My work was valued and I always received feedback on how to improve and if I did I good job they made sure I knew it!

It was easy to get caught with a substantial task and have no initial guidance but my manager was always happy answering my questions in detail, no matter how basic they were.

There were days where I would be constantly checking off tasks all day which was tiring but very fulfilling and I learnt a lot on those days. However due to the fact that I was encouraged to find my own work and there was no structured plan for my time on the internship there were a number of days where I would have very little to do unless I went around the office asking my colleagues if they needed help on anything. This therefore made some days very long and boring.

I was entrusted to investigate why my team's contract was falling behind schedule and this gave me the responsibility in contacting the supplier/contractor/designer in order to obtain the necessary information that I could then present to the project managers in a monthly slideshow presentation. When I was working with the engineering team I was given tasks that sometimes required expertise knowledge so in those cases my work was being reviewed by the responsible engineer.

The skills I developed mostly would be: professionalism, time management, communication (getting the information I need from other people), teamwork and presentation (public speaking). These skills will greatly assist me in my degree and particularly my studying as I now know the importance of having the fundamental engineering knowledge in the professional world.

The atmosphere was lively around the office and there were cakes brought in regularly!

The internship didn't seem to have any structure as I was just thrown onto the team that required the most help and was lead from there. Apart from that, I was able to pick and choose what teams I wanted to work with but for the majority of the 3 months I stayed with one team and got to know their contract inside and out which I think was more beneficial than learning about a number of contracts without much depth.

The company invested in me for two international trips to Paris so I could get an understanding of the Project Manager role. I was also given training at the company's induction centre which taught me about the historical role of nuclear energy and past case studies as well as the company values and goals.

Future internship opportunities are a possibility which could eventually lead to a graduate job.

I was the only intern on the project however EDF Energy have a great apprenticeship `scheme with around 30 apprentices now in the office and we regularly went on nights out in Bristol.

Bristol is quite an expensive city and so my drinking was occasional at best but the salary I earned made up for this.

Bristol is a largely populated student city and so the nightlife was very lively and there was always something going on.

While I was doing my internship I attended kickboxing classes and did Olympic lifting at a gym that was a short walk away. I also worked behind a bar on weekends to gain some bartending experience and to earn a little extra cash.