XS Apps Intern Review

Plenty of varied and interesting work to do, good atmosphere. Was treated as a proper member of staff, rather than a student, and was therefore able to work on real projects and gain exposure to the business.

Very friendly office, and I felt respected and accepted as a member of staff. While there was always work to be done, everyone was lighthearted enough to make it an enjoyable place to be.

Plenty of support and guidance was on offer, if needed. My manager and supervisors always made time to help, or to offer guidance of any sort.

There was lots to do! After the first month or so, I was given projects to work on, and had to manage my time myself, so was able to balance my work well. If I had too little to do, my colleagues always had projects/tasks I could get involved in.

From my first few weeks, I was one of the main administrators on the UK's internal SharePoint farm, and was responsible for day-to-day management of this, as well as deployment of new solutions to the farm. Other than that, I was given the opportunity to manage my own projects and liaise with 'clients', so I was nearly always responsible for the work I was doing.

I hadn't realised how easy university was! My attitude to work has changed greatly, due to my placement, in the sense that I now understand how hard a 37 hour week is, and I aim to work significantly harder in my final year at university. I have been able to gain a higher level of technical proficiency as a result of my time at BMW, and have been able to develop my personal and professional skills also.

The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed, but also very supportive - if you had a question, anybody would be willing to go out of their way to help.

My placement was well organised, because the Build team have one every year, so I just took over from the previous student.

I feel as though BMW invested a lot of time and effort in developing me!

Generally, there is not a job guaranteed after the placements are completed, but there is a graduate scheme and many other opportunities within the group, and if I had the opportunity, I would pursue a career with BMW.

There is a large number of international students, who socialise regularly.

It's expensive compared to being in the North, but nowhere near as expensive as London!

Fairly average - quite expensive, but not too bad. Student nights are best, and the weekends worst, but that's the same everywhere.

There were group challenges, such as the Mountain Challenge, and members of IT played sports outside work. I didn't get involved in either of these.