Process engineer summer intern Review

The role had a wide variety of responsibilities which were in different sectors of the business. The engineering interns looked at an older piece of equipment and were designing an additional set of components to return it to its original function. There was a lot of flexible working and this meant there were many meetings through teams. There was also day-to-day work that had to be carried out on the project itself, investigating its feasibility.

I have learnt a magnitude of new skills that are required for a professional environment. Centrica does not list its core values for no reason, they really do mean what they say and they want you to develop in these core areas which are required for a successful graduate. These include agility, collaboration, delivery, care and courage. I have gained an understanding on how to further develop these values upon entering my final year and to continue these in my future professional career.

Yes, the group I was working in had a lot of responsibility. Centrica is one of the only companies to give their interns real life projects which is one of the main reasons for such a great development throughout the placement. This project has been carried out and having an internship at Centrica has provided a real sense of achievement. This is meant a lot of considerations had to be made when reporting back on the project and it gave us an experience of handing over work which is something mainly done later in peoples careers.

Our group had both a line manager and graduate talent manager which were both there to support us. We were also given a buddy which was there to catch up and see how our placement was going. The buddy regularly checked for updates to make sure we had settled down in the company. The line manager and Graduate talent manager were always challenging us to progress our engineering which is important. They really wanted us to be proactive and ask a lot of questions as this showed we were keen to learn.

The company focuses on its culture through different committees which anyone can join. These committees are here to support people and aid them in their personal life but also help them settle in the professional environment. There is also a lot of charity work which the interns were involved with. The interns were split up into groups and set the task of choosing a charity. We also had to setup 3 fundraisers on behalf of Centrica.

I thoroughly enjoyed my summer internship and it has provided me with a lot of new connections I would not have had before. I was also able to have onsite visits at the gas processing terminal which was a great opportunity and this does not come by regularly. The summer placement has also developed my theoretical knowledge and demonstrated how to apply my theoretical knowledge in a professional environment. I will be able to use many of the skills that I have developed throughout the placement in my further career and university modules.

Yes

I would advise them to be themselves. Do not be someone you are not as its not worth it and you won't enjoy the placement if your applying for the sake of it. Its important to know the core values of Centrica and where Centrica want to move in the market. Make sure to consider the company goals and what new technologies Centrica is pushing. As an engineer make sure you are commercially aware of the market situation with energy.