Summer Student Review
by Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
3.5
-
The Company
3.8
-
The Culture
4.1
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I really enjoyed my time at dstl. The team was very supportive and continually made efforts to ensure I was doing work I was interested in where possible.
The environment is very supportive and had a great team ethos and opportunities to attend socials etc
A comfortable amount. At times I felt a little out of my depth but had support from colleagues to get work done to good standard, and other times I was well within my comfort zone which made for a good balance. I was able to manage my own time working when and how I wanted to as long as I made up my hours and met deadlines which was great.
The most valuable training I was able to do was R training which I hope to use in my final year at university. This experience was definitely invaluable and applicable both to my studies and future work. Otherwise a lot of the work I completed I was already well versed in (literature reviews etc) but gave me the opportunity to gain awareness in areas of study I had not previously been exposed to.
The Company
Open plan working meant there was always someone to chat to, lunch with and ask for help. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and I felt I could ask for help when necessary but wasn't being watched and monitored by my seniors.
I was able to jump into projects early on in my internship and rarely didn't have work to do - although this was likely due to there being a lot of people with large workloads at that point in time. Otherwise it was well organised with equipment and training booked in for me from day 1.
The investment in my own personal training was excellent. My line manager was open to me attending training suggested by others that would be beneficial to my degree even if it didn't directly relate to the work I was doing.
Flexi Time
Company Parties/Events
Working from home
Very appealing, the Graduate scheme offers great opportunities for career development and flexibility in areas of work.
The Culture
There was only one other intern in my team who I got on well with. Mainly I socialised with colleagues I was working closely with on certain projects.
Standard, I was able to live at home.
Portsmouth has a good nightlife although I tended to socialise in other areas.
There were weekly socials organised for new staff and graduates, other activities (playzone etc) were also regularly offered.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
South East
September 2019
