Summer Intern Review

I would have to say that, overall, I have really enjoyed the internship and I feel that I have a gained a considerable amount of clarity in what path to take going into my final year of university. I feel that internships should ultimately give interns a true taste of what is it like to work within the company that they are with and I feel that BAE have been very successful in this regard.

Before I even started, I heard that my team were very exited to have me. This meant a lot as moving away from home for the summer to an unfamiliar area can be quite daunting and knowing that my team were as welcoming as they were was very comforting. Since I have started, I have been treated extremely well and I have truly felt like I am part of the team. I genuinely could ask nothing more of my team, they are all amazing.

My placement supervisor has been extremely supportive and helpful. I was asked early on in my placement what I wanted to get out of it and what skills I wanted to develop whilst on the internship. In no time, I was booked onto the relevant training courses (some with a waiting list of months!) and supported all the way through. I have weekly meetings with my placement manager to unsure that I am getting along well and if I need any support.

In my weekly meetings with my placement manager, I was given a reasonable amount of work to do. I never felt that I was overwhelmed by the amount of work that I had nor was I ever bored due to a lack of work. I was given work that was stimulating and allowed me to develop valuable skills.

I was given a good amount of responsibility during my placement and allowed to get 'stuck-in' with the day to day work that the team does. Half way through my placement, when I had time to get used to things, I was given independence and was allowed to manage my own time and workload in a way which suits me.

Whilst Microsoft Excel skills wont necessarily directly assist me in my degree studies due to the nature of what I study. I feel that I have been given the opportunity to develop skills that I can take with me other jobs in the future. And I feel that the latter is the hallmarks of a good internship.

The general atmosphere in my office was quite positive, the office has a very welcoming environment compared to other offices I have been in. Everyone, inside and outside my team was approachable and was willing to help with anything I needed help with or any questions I had. Which made day-to-day working on the placement more enjoyable.

My placement manager was very good in setting out my objectives and my day-to-day work was based around the objective set out. We had weekly catch ups and more formal meetings in the middle and end of my placement, where I was given an opportunity to see how I am progressing and if I needed any support or wanted to get anything else out of my placement. This ensured that I get the most out of my placement.

I felt like I was well valued and invested in during my time at BAE. I was booked onto sought after training programmes such as negotiation training - which had a waiting list of a few months, which allowed me to gain valuable skills which I can take into other jobs/industries.

I have been told that the company have recently reviewed their process for offering interns and summer placement students offers based on their performance on their placement. If you do well on your placement and score highly across your KPI's, you will be given an offer for once you graduate. However there is a slight lack of clarity into the process if people want to get a position in another site in the UK or a different business function.

The town that I am located in isn't know for it nightlife, however there is a good social scene amongst the other placement students. Since I have started, I have been invited to numerous socials, and the interns and industrial placement students make an effort to socialise which is great.

You get what you pay for. Admittedly, I expected the town in which I am based would be cheaper due to its location. But unfortunately this hasn't been the case. The cost for groceries and drinks has been pretty standard - nothing special really. There are a few good and cheap pubs and there is only about two decent cocktail bars. If you are looking for anything more, you would need to commute.

The town I am in is not known for its nightlife. And since I have come from university for the summer here, I guess my expectations are set quite high. If you want anything decent in terms of nightlife, you would have to commute out into the next major city to get anything near decent.

In terms of opportunities outside of work, there wasn't anything organised by the company, but more informally by other colleagues such as after work badminton and football. With regards to activities in general, you have to be proactive and look for things and sign up such as the local gym.