Summer Student Review

The overall experience was good. Sometimes there wasn't enough work but otherwise the work was stimulating and challenging.

While understanding that I had less experience than others in the office, people would still give me challenging work which was on a level with what they would be completing themselves.

Whenever I requested help then staff were happy to offer it but sometimes I had the impression that they were a little too busy and would prefer to be doing otherwise.

As Atkins is a consultancy business there is only work to be done as and when customers need it. Unfortunately, this left me a little bit light on work at times but I usually managed to fill this in by requesting pieces of work from colleagues or going through training material.

While most reports etc. must be checked and signed off by someone else, I was given responsibility to produce important pieces of work for various clients. Some work would come with strict guidelines on how it should be completed, while other pieces were largely open ended and left to my own initiative.

Not much formal training is given during summer placements (thought graduates will tend to go on various training courses) but the overall experience is certainly useful. If you hadn't had any previouse experience of a professional workplace then a lot could be learned from that alone, while the technical work gives a strong insight into the industry and helps to develop various skills depending on your projects. One of the most important aspects of the placement was that it helped me get a feel for the areas of work I will or won't want to go into as a graduate.

I was in a relatively small office which meant there was a smaller pool of people to socialise with and it also meant that we missed out on some of the "extra curricular" activities that the other offices do such as organised events and sports days etc. Everyone that was in my office was very friendly though so there was still a pleasant atmosphere.

There was no formal structure to the placement as it largely depends on the work available at any particular time. However, managers and colleagues generally attempted to ensure work was provided and that I was kept busy and useful.

I wasn't invited to attend any training courses etc. but managers and colleagues invested time and effort to try and teach me when I needed guidance.

A strong summer placement (if you're about to enter your final year at university) is definitely the gateway to a job offer; they treat the placement as an extended interview and so your efforts will be assessed as you go along. Towards the end of the placement, successful students are usually sent to a graduate assessment day with the intention of securing a graduate role (although I believe some students may be given outright job offers without an assessment).

There were no other placement students but we would occasionally go out for drinks with everyone in the office. "Pizza thursday" was a weekly activity where we went to a local pizza shop for lunch and most other days a few of us would go out for food together. Again, in larger offices I believe there is more of a social scene but it was somewhat restricted due to my location.

I was based in one of the two offices in Newcastle and it's a great city for socialising on a student budget.

Again, Newcastle is a great area for students to be so nightlife was never lacking.

A couple of people offered to take me rock climbing etc but (again) because of the small office there was less going on. Some of my colleagues were STEM ambassadors so as a graduate I would expect to get a chance to become more involved in that.