Applications Engineering Intern Review

National Instruments have a "work hard play hard" ethos and I had a lot of fun throughout my year. The social atmosphere both inside the office and out on the various company events which are organised has got to be amongst the best going. The job itself provided a wide range of exposure to various engineering disciplines in industry and really expanded my knowledge across many fields. I never had a day where I really didn't want to go to work.

Colleagues had the up most respect for one another around the office and opinions were valued equally regardless of your position in the company. You were recognised as an individual for your achievements, and rewarded extremely well with the abundance of social company events and treats.

My experience with management/supervisory staff is that you get a very personal experience and do not feel unable to approach them for support or to discuss any issues you have. I actually had a period of long term sickness during my placement which I was worried about, but I was given outstanding support on a personal level by management who just wanted me to get well again. Soon enough I was back at work and had a fantastic end to my placement plus additional opportunities.

Due to the nature of the job, work load can vary on a daily basis. I found that at times you could be very busy bouncing from one thing to the next as the day flies by. Other days work was a bit lighter, but you were encouraged to explore new fields of interest and work on your own engineering projects in order to further develop your knowledge. This isn't always possible in many work places.

After my first two months, I was flown out to Ireland on my own and drove across to Sligo on the far west coast to meet with another colleague. We had to deliver customer training in graphical programming for a week to lecturers at the Sligo Institute of Technology.

My biggest take away from the year was the development of soft skills such as presenting. I've never been one for presenting and would always shy away where possible, but with it being a key part of the job role I couldn't escape it. This meant I developed this key engineering skill throughout the year to the point where I now feel confident in preparing and delivering presentations. In terms of technical skills, I received 2 months of solid training in LabVIEW programming, and this software along with the tools it has on offer I'm sure will aid me in my engineering career in some form.

Chilled out, laid back, and very friendly. People are quite often able to have a good laugh whilst still getting the work done which is required.

Extremely well organised. After hearing some of the horror stories about ending up stuck in front of Excel as they don't know what to get you doing, I was pleasantly surprised. The entire year was planned out to ensure we all got everything we could out of it. It sometimes still required a little pro activeness on your part, but the opportunities were there.

I sat 2 months of official training courses in LabVIEW programming. To put it in perspective, one 2 day course can cost around £1200. As well as this, throughout the year we received continual internal training from different departments about different technology, and I even provided some myself.

I'm not entirely sure if the long term career prospects are quite what I'm looking for in my engineering career, but I'm still going through weighing up options and deciding through discussion with my manager.

As I've mentioned a few times now, the social scene surrounding the company was exceptional. You would not be disappointed on that front.

Around about what I would call average based on my home area being the south coast of England. Various choices of bars/restaurants most with reasonable prices, and a 3 bed unfurnished house to rent cost £950 pcm which I shared with two others.

Newbury itself is variable, but with Reading nearby you have other options available. Newbury does have some places to go and I have had some fun nights out.

Lots of opportunities. Even if not company arranged, colleagues were always organising social outings whether it be rock climbing or wake boarding.