Body in White Intern Review

The day starts with a couple simple tasks that take anywhere from 30 mins - 1 hour but were crucial to the functioning of the department. The rest of the day you will be in meetings with manufacturing plants in Germany/Suppliers or working on a projects assigned to you. These projects can vary wildly with some being very IT centric and others revolving around improving operational processes. You may also be asked to do typical intern tasks such as finding tools, sending mail and more.

I gained a better understanding of how Microsoft office is implemented in a business setting. I also better understand the processes involved in a large multinational company such as compliance, safety and how supply chains work. It was interesting to observe the dialogue between suppliers and the company in regards to maintaining the required standards.

Yes, the daily tasks are crucial to the running of the department. This took the form of steering daily meetings, providing important graphics to members of management and in a longer project, developing a process improvement that was implemented onto the production line.

Initially, a fair amount of guidance was provided by the previous intern who had a contract that overlapped a month with mine. However, after they left less direct support was provided. The department is very small and everyone is very busy so you are often left alone. Additionally, there may be tasks assigned to you that go beyond the scope of your departments knowledge and therefore you may need to seek help from other departments.

All the members in my department were very nice but I was aware that this was not an experience all other interns shared. The company culture was as expected for Rolls Royce, very professional and focused on providing the best product. Everyone appeared to be very hard working and this encouraged me to do the same. However, there was a culture of gossiping.

Overall I did enjoy the placement. Coming into work was the highlight in my day as I enjoyed working with the people around me. However, there were times were there was a lack of work to do or the work was provided was not very challenging.

No

Think about your living situation, Chichester does not have a lot of housing and so you will have to be prepared to pay a lot or commute in some distance. Also, think carefully about the department you apply for and ask lots of questions in the interview about what sort of work you will be doing. This role is also suited for someone who is very self driven and works well with lots of independence, if you prefer structure then this role is not for you.