Emerging Technologist Review

I found the work was genuinely helping the team. They gave me work in which I could see had an impact on the project. I was able to present my work to the directors of the project, set up meetings with project members and handed over my work at the end of the internship showing that they valued my work. However since I am from an Engineering background, for me the work was not greatly challenging so would have liked to have been pushed more.

Line Manager and colleagues have been amazing! They have respected my comments, made me feel part of the team and have seemed very genuine through their willingness to give me their time. They have also shown interest in me and my personal development which has been great. My work has been integrated into their project which also makes me feel valued.

I was given support and guidance whenever I asked. The work was not very complex however so not a large amount of guidance was needed. I sit next to my line manager and so whenever I have a questions, I am able to just ask as long as I could see that she was not busy. She was always willing to help me.

My tasks were not greatly large so I had periods of time when I was not as busy as I would have hoped. However there was a visible effort from my team to include me in everything that I could be. This included being invited to many meetings and sitting in interviews.

I was given projects where I was completely responsible for which was great. However they were not very large projects and did not have strict deadlines. Therefore, I was given a good amount of responsibility but didn't feel very motivated at times. I did set meetings and make room bookings which added responsibility.

My soft skills have definitely improved. I have learnt a lot about working in large teams and presenting in professional environments. However, since the role is not at all related to my degree, the knowledge is not applicable. The project management skills were skills I already had before the role. The technical skills I used were ones that I already had. I feel like I have a much better awareness of the working life however and feel more confident going forward.

Very social atmosphere, people were talking and on meetings. However, the very nature of offices means that the set up could be mundane at times. There was always a gentle hum and work was not always the only things discussed! People felt they could talk openly. At the site I was at, there was a hot desking system which did create small issues at times, but was also very understandable as there were many people who only worked a few days at the site and worked from home / at another site for the rest of the week.

Overall it was organized well. There was a graduate resourcing team who you knew was your point of contact. However, when I was onboarded, there were issues around requesting various items and so I did not have a laptop for the first 3 days. This meant that I could not do much in those days. There were also training days away from the site in which I have still not been reimbursed for despite being told I would be. I have still not been reimbursed for my interview travel either.

There was a 2 day training event at the beginning of the internship and mandatory training events throughout the internship which included speakers and a tour of the command centre. I felt that the training days were not very helpful however and I did not take away my skills from them. The talks were inspiring so helped with the personal development. I thought that the more technical skills were not improved however.

You are considered for a grad role at the end of your internship. I still have one week remaining so have not been communicated as to whether I will receive an offer or not as of yet. However the progression available and there is a lot of information given to you regarding that.

The interns created a group chat and LinkedIn group which enabled communications to flow well. There were multiple intern events. At lunch, there was an area where most interns would go so there was a lot of socialising over lunch. There was also social events at weekends and a bake sale.

The cost of living was okay, due to the temporary nature of internships it was hard finding a place for a shorter term and therefore you have to pay more. I worked at the Knutsford campus and so there is not much accommodation close by. This meant living a bit further out and driving to work. Two other interns lived in the same town as me however so I carpooled them. Socialising was not too expensive due to the good train links and decent price f the tickets.

There was no real nightlife in the area I worked. Since I was in a town, things closed very early and there was not a big range of things to do. The campus is on the outskirts of a village and hence there is not much around it. There is a pub down the road that staff members do socialize at.

There were opportunities, especially sports wise there were charitable events and the chance to be involved in a project that is ran providing tech to developing countries. However I do think that there is not a wide range and this could be improved. This may be due to the area the campus is in. People tend to commute to work and therefore do not stay in the area for long after the working hours.