Female Discovery Week Review

The Female Discovery Week was originally to be held in person, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic every in-person activities were cancelled. BP tackled the problem by holding online seminars and insight classes. We managed to hear the experience of current graduates and have very useful insights on the selection processes. Of course, online inductions and talks cannot be compared to travelling around the UK and networking, however I was very satisfied and surprised by the quality of the talks.

BP was unbelievably caring, as I never would have thought that they would put in that much time and effort for Discovery Week participants. We were paid despite not being on-site and we could easily contact the Early Career manager for suggestions and questions. They decided to make an online networking session for the Female Discovery Week participants, which was extremely useful and very appreciated. We got tailored news weekly and were kept informed throughout the summer.

Again, we were contacted throughout the whole summer and kept up to date with any news. We were paid despite not doing any in-person activities and we managed to have a very well crafted feedback option. We did not need any support per se, but we did receive great help with the selection process. Every email is very clear and guidance is still being offered now despite the program was supposed to be help in April.

I did not learn any hands on skills or techniques, sine it was just supposed to give us a general idea of what working with BP is like and what to expect from application processes, selection, graduate schemes and eventually working there. Yet a couple of the online seminars help by the company were useful, such as the one about communication. I cannot say how it would have been in person, but I did enjoy it nonetheless.

I think many changes were made to turn the discovery week into an online one. Still, it was clear relatively from the beginning what classes, inductions and seminars we would have had, as we were given a calendar which was very clear. The structure itself was simple, as again it consisted of online classes, but it was engaging and easy to follow. The instructions were clear and the objectives were clearly stated, so overall I would say it was a balanced insight programme.

I only got to meet very few of the participants and got to talk via email. I think the current circumstances make it hard to answer this question positively

My Discovery Week did not need any specific trainings.

BP was extraordinary in this regard. We could hear the experiences of current graduates, previous interns, current workers and even just people associated with the company. There were many online classes which focussed on Life at BP and how to become part of it, and every one of them was focussed on a different section: from Science, to Marketing and Business, to HR and Engineering. It was particularly useful to talk with the graduate scheme students.

Again, BP is very clear on their values and they are stated almost everywhere. We were reminded of them constantly, and always put in context. Again, with the Life at BP online seminars, it was easy to understand how people interact with each other and how the working atmosphere is like. I very much enjoyed hearing about the way BP established itself and how it is planning to grow further. The values it stands by are very relatable.

Extremely useful. I already had the idea of going into the energy sector (with a focus on renewables actually, in which BP is investing currently), but thanks to this internship I finally made up my mind and immediately switched from an integrated masters course to a bachelor, since I now know which kind of masters I would like to pursue. It is so useful to see and hear about different career paths from different people, so that was definitely a plus.

I did not expect to be paid and did not apply to the program because of it. In fact, I had not realised it was! Yet despite being told we would have been paid, I did not expect BP to pay us since we did not do any practical work. We were paid with the same wage a graduate would receive, and I was extremely positively surprised. This really shows how much BP cares about future candidates.

Of course, there were way less opportunities than if we had had a in person Discovery Week. Every person who gave a presentation or who talked in an online seminar encouraged us to add them on LinkedIn or to write for whichever question. The only true opportunity for networking was given by a private session we had with the other Female Discovery Week participants. That was extremely useful and it was also organised directly by BP.

Of course, there were way less opportunities than if we had had a in person Discovery Week. Every person who gave a presentation or who talked in an online seminar encouraged us to add them on LinkedIn or to write for whichever question. The only true opportunity for networking was given by a private session we had with the other Female Discovery Week participants. That was extremely useful and it was also organised directly by BP.