Vacation Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on placement at Arup. Throughout my 6 weeks I was able to work on a wide variety of different projects and gain a valuable insight into building engineering. From day one, my team were very supportive of me and my work and they were always on hand to help or advise when I was struggling/could not find a solution. Everyone in the office was very friendly, and there was a great social scene.

My team were always checking how I was finding my current work and they were not afraid to give me more work to complete. There was no sense of "they are just an intern, they won't understand this" and work I was given was both challenging and rewarding. I was invited to attend office meetings and project review meetings by some of my team, to gain insight into normal project procedure. My colleagues were all very friendly, and there was a great atmosphere between everyone in the team.

When I arrived on my first day, my line manager introduced me to the rest of the team who sat around me and then over the following week I was introduced to the entire team. The tasks I was given by my manager were always clearly explained, however I was given a lot of freedom to approach the tasks how I wanted, and then change them if necessary.

I was never without something to do. It has been a very busy period in the office with a large variety of projects and thus I was never doing nothing. When I finished one task, there was either another one to complete in a similar fashion or always other work which members of my team were happy to give me. Despite it being a busy time, I did not feel like I had been given too much work; the work is spread out across the entire team and I did not feel overworked. I was busy but not stressed.

I was given a lot of repsonsibility and autonomy on my placement. On my first day I was told I would be working on a simulation by myself that would be used for energy analysis of building undergoing live construction. I was able to complete the project within the first two weeks of my placement and then present the results to my manager. Although I was given repsonsibility to complete this task on my own, people were always on hand to support me when I was struggling to use the software.

As I study mechanical engineering, building services is not something that is covered very specifically. However, the principles behind certain elements link well to modules I have studied and plan to study. Also, my problem solving and analysis skills have greatly improved throughout my time on placement and these will help me in the future.

The office atmosphere was fantastic - everyone is very friendly and sociable. Social events are planned by a sports and social team for the entire office to attend if they want, and then small social events are planned for individual groups and teams. People are always happy to ask how you are doing, and what you've been up to.

The internship was very well organised; the first day started with a HR induction and presentation about the company structure. In another presentation we were told of the benefits graduates and other full time employees received. I was then given my laptop and had to complete some compulsory e-learning modules before starting my work and meeting my team. The largr projects I was given were well thought out.

As mentioned, I completed some e-learning courses on my first day. However following that, I was able to use the firm's e-learning space to learn more about the simulation software I was using and for other things I did not understand. My team were happy to explain things to me, and in meetings if they did not think I understood they would explain and make sure I did.

Arup is a great place to work and there is a lot of work ongoing within in the firm. I would love to come back on the graduate scheme.

Due to the short nature of my placement (6 weeks), I started mid way through the summer and there was only one other intern with me in my induction. However we quickly became friends and have met up at lunch times etc. The social scene in my team is fantastic, everyone is very friendly and after work events are frequent. There were after work drinks organised for the entire team after my third week and it was a lot of fun to meet more people and get to know my team on more of a personal level.

Newcastle City Centre is like many other cities with its range of shops etc and it is relatively cheap compared to other southern cities. I do not know much about the cost of rent, as I was able to live at home and commute.

The Newcastle nightlife scene is famous - there are plenty of bars and clubs all around the city and the student area Jesmond is busy all year round either with students in term time or returning students in the holidays. The prices are very cheap, and there are lots of variety.

There is a sports and social group as previously mentioned that organises events (e.g. pizza making) and large office socials. I know there is office sport teams and other groups which meet on lunchtimes. Smaller social events happen throughout the weeks in teams, and there was always an invite when these were going on.