Chemical/Process Engineering Intern Review

BP was an excellent place to work as an intern. The people within the company were really friendly, welcoming and helpful throughout my internship. The company offered a lot of opportunities to learn, network and socialise outside your day-to-day job. I felt like I was part of the company from day one. Working in upstream had great perks: you get lunch allowance and flexible working.

People were friendly from day 1. They appreciated my opinion and it was great to be listened to even in larger meetings. You get an input and your work will carry over to be a part of bigger picture. My colleagues took me to breakfast/lunch and I never felt lonely. If I had times when I was struggling, support was always there.

I was really lucky to get my supervisor. He was sitting in the office only a few desks away and that enabled me to walk to his desk whenever if I had questions or just fancied a friendly chat. He also came to my desk every day to make sure I am not struggling with anything. He gave my very supportive feedback throughout my internship and constantly recognised me for good work. I could also e honest with him if I had concerns and he did his best to accommodate my queries.

It depended on a day. Some days I had loads to do and the day flew by really quickly. Some days I was really bored as I was waiting for a reply from someone to continue my work. However, how busy you are is more up to yourself. BP offers a lot a various activities to get involved with, so you can work on them while you have less work to do. Also another thing was to shadow other colleagues to get exposed to what they are doing.

I was given a larger project with very thin parameters set. I really enjoyed this, as it gave me freedom to think about the problem myself and to create my own approach. It really taught me a lot and how to find information within the company. In times I was struggling to understand the next steps, but there was always someone who can support you. You are not thrown into the deep end without help!

The internship enabled me to gain a lot of confidence and communication skills. You are exposed in the company and are expected to communicate with people around you. I did several presentations and had to chat to a lot of people to get my project moving. Doing this has really made me appreciate teamwork. I learned not to undermine myself because I'm ''just an intern''. No one cares about that. Your opinions are valued and your voice is heard as long as you have the courage to bring it up!

Atmosphere was good. People in BP tend to have a lot of responsibility and are running in a lot of meetings so its not all fun and games throughout. But it is an office at the end of the day. I have worked in different internships before and I can confidently say that no one has ever been more welcoming as BP has. People want to talk to you and know how you are doing which is great. I would have wished for a team building event, however none was arranged during my time. However, with the other interns you have lots of opportunities to socialise with and to share experiences. All the interns are separated to different teams so you don't see other interns on a daily basis. However, there were at least 2-3 intern socials per month during my internship!

We had an induction day to start the internship with, and all the interns were gathered there. It was a good insight to the company and made us feel welcome. Your internship objectives and team allocation were sent a month prior to your internship starting. There was a mid-internship and final internship review sessions, which were helpful in reflecting your learning so far.

There were a lot of activities, which you can get involved with, but it is up to you to sign up to them if you want to learn more. The company does not force you to do extra stuff during your work, but it is highly recommended and it is beneficial. There were technical talks, lunch & learns, annual poster competition, presentation work shop and volunteering opportunities,

At the time of the writing I haven't found whether I am offered a permanent role or not. However, the likelihood of getting hired is high. BP invests in their interns and we have a final internship review session where you can demonstrate your abilities and based on that and your performance during your internship, you might be offered a role on the graduate program.

We had many interns at the same place during the summer. It was great fun to get involved with different social aspects and you really got to know your cohorts. We had monthly drinks, a dinner/drinks out, pub crawl, rounders tournament, summer ball and a comedy night.

I did my placement in London area so the cost is very high. Train service to Sunbury is shockingly expensive. Accommodation costs also makes you lose an arm and a leg if you don't know someone to stay with. London is great for socialising and you can find cheap places to eat/drink if you know where to go.

It's London, enough said!

It is really up to yourself what you decide to do with your free time. I lived in a great location with lots of activities and a very good gym to attend to. However, everything outside of work costs money and you need to really save up if you want to have the full experience.