Pre-Operations Engineer Intern Review

I really enjoyed my time with the company I was working with. It gave me a lot of experience and exposure in a short space of time. From the beginning I was given task over lots of exciting projects and programmes that allowed me to develop various skill sets. My placement also allowed me to make great networking contacts. I am glad I took on a summer internship.

I worked in a small close knit team which did a great job at welcoming me on day one. I always felt supported by my colleagues and felt comfortable to ask them any questions or advice I needed. I often felt valued from my colleagues from the contributions I made and the positive feedback they gave me.

My manager carefully outlined my responsibilities and continuously helped me in the work I was doing to ensure I was meeting the correct requirements. My manager was also always happy to answer my questions and offer me opportunities that allowed me to grow my skills. I never felt confused or unsure of what was expected of me as the support and guidance I received was always clear.

I always had something to be doing and never felt overburdened with the work load given. Considering I was not there for very long, I was surprised at the amount of work that I was given. The work load gave me enough to be stretched and make my placement worthwhile without feeling stressed out.

From the very beginning, I was given charge of developing and supporting various projects and programmes across our department. Some of the responsibilities I was given were within teams and others on individual tasks. I really enjoyed having the chance to work on parts of the project myself and to be able to see the contributions I was making to the company. Saying this, I never felt pressurised or overburdened in the responsibilities I was given.

Everything I did had value for myself and the company, I was grateful for the training I was given that will help me when I enter the work place. I was tasked with real engineering problems that I am now facing again in my degree, it is a huge benefit to see how industry tackles these issues in a professional environment to then apply that edge to my university studies.

It was a fairly small office space and often many employees were out of the office for work which made the atmosphere very quiet though I enjoyed this as you could focus and work hard. The facilities were fairly basic and there were not very many food services, e.g. a subway and a basic vending machine. Though there were few teams based at our office it was very friendly and everyone knew each other.

The work side of the placement was well organised and the work given was carefully selected for me to do. The on boarding process was very unorganised and it took a long time before I had full unescorted access to my work place which was very frustrating. It also took a long time for my computer access to come through so I was limited to the amount of work I could do initially.

I was given a lot of training opportunities that led to qualifications which will help me later in my career. Part of my work load was to spend time improving my understanding of processes and management programs which greatly enhanced my personal development in these areas. I felt as though all the work that I was given, ultimately led to improving my technical skills and abilities. I feel as though my placement had a huge push on personal development.

Future employment prospects within this organisation are very appealing. As well as thoroughly enjoying my time with the company, I was positively engaged with my future opportunities from their early careers team and received extremely positive feedback from many of those I worked with who had taken part in graduate schemes in the company. Speaking with many different employees confirmed the appeal and benefit of working within this company.

There were no other placement students in my office or team but there was still a good social scene amongst the younger employees at the office. Though I never took part in any outside work activities, I was often invited to join in mountain biking activities and running groups. I know the company has a wider Young Professional Network which offers very good social networking and other opportunities and training.

I lived at home as it was the easiest method in such a short space of time. The cost of living in the south west is fairly average compared to the rest of the UK. Again the cost of socialising is fairly standard though there are limited facilities because it is in a fairly small town. You would need to travel for more opportunities which could cost a little more in transportation.

The office was located in Bridgewater which is a fairly rural town, it has a lively but quiet and small nightlife scene. Though Bristol is not that far away if you wanted a bigger social scene. I am led to believe that it is quite a close knit community type scene, so if you were after a more cosmopolitan scene, again I would suggest Bristol.

There were many opportunities listed and advertised on notice boards in the office and within the announcements section online. There was a range of available activities in sports, social, and creative groups. I never took part in any of the said activities, but it was nice to know that there were activities available. Speaking to colleagues they all recommended and some were heavily involved in these out of work activities.