Geo-Environmental Intern Review

The role is split between office work as well as site work. Each day varies where you may be which allows a very mixed experience of what Arcadis do. Office work consists of report writing, desk studies to understand the basic features of a site as well as other essential admin. On site, you may be getting hands on with groundwater monitoring in boreholes to sample and purge the water to check for any possible contamination that may be present.

I have learnt how to write a professional report and other documents which is important for my potential future career in consulting. As well as this, I have learnt how to communicate successfully with both clients and colleagues on site and in the office which meant that the job was completed successfully. I have learnt new skills in site work completion including groundwater monitoring and environmental site walkovers. I also spectated some drilling on site which gave a full picture of a site.

During my internship I was given the responsibility of writing a report for a client after some site work that I also carried out. It is important that a client report is written by someone that knows the site and everything that happened during the works. As well as this, on site I was shown how to groundwater monitor once and subsequently left alone to carry out the task on further sites and sample more bottles that once shown.

Everyone was so supportive during my 10 weeks at Arcadis. I was given lots of important and useful guidance by many people that I came across and people always took time out to help and explain any new concepts. My line manager was excellent throughout the programme and she enabled me to attend many different sites and carry out lots of different activities to broaden my skill set. Being in an office environment meant that I got to speak to people from all areas of Arcadis as well as all levels in the company to see whether it was somewhere I would like to work in the future.

Throughout my 10 weeks, I had the opportunity to move between the Cambridge and Newmarket offices which allowed me to meet many people from lots of areas. Everyone was so lovely and welcoming and was always interested in my background and why I was carrying out an internship. I always felt part of the team in all places and although I may not have had the same level of responsibility, I was never treated differently.

I loved the whole of my internship and it has helped me to understand what I would like to do in my future career. I have been given so many opportunities over the 10 weeks of my internship which has fulfilled my expectation of Arcadis as well as environmental consultancy. It has been well worth my time over the summer and I have enjoyed every aspect of it and always been excited to see what the day brings.

Yes

The only advice I would give is to be yourself in your interview and psychometric test. They are looking for people who are interested in the environment and people who they could potentially employ at the end. If you feel as though your interview didn't go well, don't worry too much because they may be giving you harder questions to answer because they are interested in what you have to say. Be honest throughout.