Summer Intern Review

I was given an excellent opportunity to work on one of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK (HS2) and gained a wide set of engineering and transferrable skills. The office environment was comfortable and my colleagues were always ready to help and provide assistance whenever I had any questions.

My colleagues all helped me with my work when required and my manager was consistently checking my progress and seeing if I was getting on with my work at a good pace. I was making good work relationship with members of other teams including the rail department, asset management team, bridges team and highways team. I felt comfortable speaking to different team members and asking for help whenever I needed it. I was also given the chance to join the bridges team on a site visit to see one of the bridges they had been designing.

My line manager was ensuring that I was settling in to the company well and I had a second line manager who came to do a mid-placement review and give me advice and guidance on how to get the best out of my experience and time at Atkins. The team leader for the work I completed and my mentor were consistent in giving me support with my work and checking my wor and giving me feedback when required. There was excellent communication via email and regular team meetings to go through the progression on the work each team member had and if any support was required.

I was given work to do on a daily basis and upon occasions were the work would be completed there would always be something else to do on the HS2 project which gave me a variation of work that I completed. I had a great opportunity to learn about different aspects of the project this way, rather than completing repetitive tasks for a long period of time.

I was given a lot of responsibility in helping produce hybrid bill documentation for the HS2 scheme. I was working on the completion of several important documents with one engineer and the work was crucial to the project being authorised under the HS2 act.

I have developed skills that I couldn't have gained in University through this placement and learned about project management and dealing with complex and unusual issues whilst working on a major scheme like HS2. I can use these skills in my university education to provide a wider understanding on any academic work I complete.

Very relaxed and everyone knew each other well. Regular team meetings helped everyone co-ordinate with each other.

I had two line managers and a mentor who helped guide me through the placement and review my progress and work.

The company invested a lot of time and effort in helping to train me on a major highways project (HS2) and gave me the opportunity to complete site visits.

Future employment with Atkins is definitely something I'd consider as they are one of the largest engineering companies in the world and provide great project experiences for young graduates.

There were many events and regular socials for graduates and placement students at Atkins. I was working alongside another two interns from my University and from my own year group.

I was living at home with family which is located several miles from the office so I got the train to work. It was convenient as the office is located very close to Birmingham New Street station. Socialising was affordable and there are many things to do, e.g. theatre at the Hippodrome, Cinemas, bowling, restaurants etc.

Birmingham is well known for having a vibrant night life including many places to dine out etc.

The company set up football games with other companies like network rail and arranged dinners etc.