Geoscience Intern Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my internship with BP. It has been a great insight into the professional world and sort of technical work that companies such as BP carry. Depsite being challenging at times, it has been extremely enjoyable and a very worthwhile and valuable experience. I am very grateful for being given the chance to do it!

I felt very valued by my colleagues as they were willing to spend time getting to know me, and also include me activities going on in the office. They valued my opinion, experience and knowledge and went out of their way to explore ideas with me, assist and help with challenges I experienced and endeavour to make me feel part of the team.

The support given to me by my supervisor has been superb. He has been able to balance being involved and interested, and yet, has let me develop ideas and investigate areas independantly and not micro manage the project. I've been allowed the flexibility to be involved with other activities outside of the project and be supported in doing those things.

I was generally very busy on a day to day basis. Of course, the workload did vary through the project, but at no point did it feel too overwhelming. The diversity of things to carry out as part of the project meant that I was busy learning new skills and knowledge on a daily basis, with little spare time.

I was very much left to manage the project, and be responsible for time management, deliverables and interaction with other members of the project. Being involved with the lunctime seminar series (lunch&learn) involved being part of a team helping to arrange speakers, liasing with other interns and booking rooms for these events to be held.

The skills and knowledge I have gained during my internship will greatly assist in my own studies but also going forward in my career. Learning how to use industry standard equipment and software means I am now more skilled up for future work. Furthermore, I have been able to consolidate my own knowledge and skills further, and be confident in what I know.

The atmosphere was generally very professional, albeit less formal than expected. On the whole, the atmosphere was very positive! People were happy, helpful and satisfied with their job. Weekly coffee/cake as well eating lunch together as a team boosted morale.

The general set up and running of the internship was very good. It was a little confusing at first, with interns being distributed throughout the business, meaning that some information was a little vague, the general organisation though was good, with lots of support available and information to guide you through the stages of the internship.

The company is willing to invest time and therefore money in developing your skills and knowledge. They actively see the development of staff a priority and regularly promote training to the staff. Information and guidance on workflows and software was in abundance, which again takes time and money to develop.

We have yet to find out the outcome of the internship, and it will be a few weeks until we do, but the future prospects seem positive. The industry as a whole is more buoyant and a career in the sector is now more desirable with much greater job security.

The social scene amongst the interns was pretty good. Being older than many of the interns made getting involved a litle more difficult as I had more responsibilities at home, as I needed to travel more, but it was very inclusive, with people meeting for lunch, and socialising at the weekends.

Living and working in London is very expensive. More so, as I was still renting my accomodation back home. Because of this I was less able go out and socialise, as the money I had needed to be used for more important things, such as travel expenses and paying bills.

I rarely was free to go socialise in the evenings, and especially the weekends. It seemed as though there was plenty to do, but I wasn't able to experience much of it. The World Cup was a particular highlight though, and going out with the other interns to watch that was rather good!

There were some opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. Sports events were organised for the interns and graduates, and monthly drinks/food took place. We were encouraged to get involved in less formal social events, and activities at the weekend took place amongst the interns, as well doing some charity work, which was arranged by the company.