Combat Engine Service Engineer Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this placement, gaining a valuable insight into the business by attending many meetings/conferences and visiting an RAF base to see Rolls-Royce products in action. There were always social/sports events going on with the Apprentice Association and support was readily available if needed. The internship was well organised from day one and it was clear that I was working with a world class company.

It was evident that the work I was doing was of great importance to my colleagues, with my work being used in a number of important meetings to set business targets. I constantly received feedback from colleagues to ensure I understood the value of my work and I was invited to weekly team meetings to present my work.

I had regular catch up sessions with my manager and team leader to address any problems and review my work. I also had formal meetings to discuss future career options as well as an interim and formal performance review to identify key strengths and weaknesses.

The objectives set out for me at the start of my internship were challenging and ensured I was busy for the entirety of my time with the company, however at no point did I feel overloaded.

It was made clear to me that the work I was doing was of great importance to the company, with several key meetings relying on my work. I was required to present my work at an international teleconference to inform other parts of the business of practices and processes I had developed. At the end of my placement I had to run a presentation and Q&A session with a number of chief engineers to raise my profile in the company and inform them of my work. I also had to take minutes at a chief engineers meeting with very little notice. I visited an RAF base during my internship and had to arrange all travel and accommodation and was trusted to drive a (rather expensive) company car.

I developed a wide range of skills which are sure to assist me in my studies, as well as providing me with skills I will use for the rest of my career. I was actively encouraged to seek out experiences that would help with university and was given help to research my university design project.

The atmosphere was very good, with a large number of interns/graduates in my office. There was plenty of light hearted conversation and people were always happy to help.

The internship was very well organised and there were never any problems. We were given various guideline documents to ensure we knew what to do and career consultants were always on hand to answer any queries.

I underwent several online training programs and attended educational visits of various areas of the assembly and manufacturing facilities. We were also sent to Derby for an induction day and to an RAF base to visit the customer.

A presentation was organised to inform interns of future employment opportunities with the company. Provided interns meet the performance requirements during their internship they are considered for the Graduate Development Programme, and will not need to attend another interview day provided they stay with the same function (e.g. engineering, project management etc).

There were regular social events organised through the apprentice association, so there was never a dull weekend. A go-karting grand prix was also organised for interns with trophies for the winners. It was a very social internship and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Living and socialising was relatively cheap as the Rolls-Royce Bristol site is near the student areas, so you can expect to find a range of student accommodation and bars to suit any budget.

The nightlife was fantastic, with a huge range of pubs, clubs, restaurants and pretty much anything else you can think of.

There were a lot of opportunities to get involved in sports, community projects and other social activities through the Apprentice Association. You could be busy pretty much every day of the week if you wanted to be!