Materials & Corrosion Intern Review

Overall, I found my internship very enjoyable: Great working hours, friendly people who are always happy to help, well paid, interesting project, good social life.

I was made to feel that my project was of a huge value for my supervisor and other people in my department for Shell globally. People were willing to give up their time to help me when I asked.

My supervisor was always sitting nearby and I organised weekly meetings with him to ensure I was on the right track. If I was a bit stuck he was more than happy to help and guide me in my project, help me with HR or IT problems or tell me who else it would be interesting to talk to in the company. I would have appreciated perhaps a bit more feedback on how to improve throughout my internship but I think they don't want to give away too much so they can judge you properly before they make a final decision on whether to hire you.

I finished the bulk of my project within the first few weeks of my 10 week internship and so was left waiting on feedback from stakeholders of the project for a while as they were off on holidays or where it was difficult organise meetings due to them being in a different time zone. So, for a while in the middle of my internship I had little useful work to do, however I took the opportunity to go around the office and talk to people from different departments.

The work that I did, while useful, was ultimately an excel tool where the real decisions was made by the Materials & Corrosion experts. I had a bit of say on how the Excel tool looked and worked but relied heavily on what they requested for their business needs.

The skills I developed where mostly surrounding talking to people from external companies and convincing them to help me where it wasn't there job. This will be incredibly useful for later life in business. I also vastly improved my Excel knowledge and my ability to plan and take initiative.

The office was generally pretty upbeat and not too stressed. However it was a bit quiet at times. On Fridays there was a more relaxed feel in the office with a more casual attire and free ice-cream which helped the mood.

The internship was pretty well organised with each stage of the assessment communicated throughout. Occasionally different people from HR had slightly different information but a bit of common sense and this wasn't a problem. The criteria they were looking for in their overall assessment was easily understood from the beginning and you could ensure you were showing the correct behaviours.

There were a number of lunch-and-learns where you learnt more about the wider company which was really interesting. Other than that there wasn't a huge need for training.

North Sea oil might be on the decline but Shell Global is thriving. There are plenty of opportunities to improve and move your way up the company while travelling the world. They regularly assess your performance and give you an idea of your potential in a very fair way. The wage is impressive for a graduate job in engineering (40k+ including bonuses) and will increase quite quickly through your career. Also if you are interested in working offshore this is encouraged for a huge bonus. (25k+). I was fortunate enough to be offered a job at the end of the internship and there is a high retention rate.

Shell graduate network has a networking event with a tab every month and other social events during work hours and outside. I played football weekly with the other interns and we organised various other sports and evenings out.

Aberdeen accommodation prices are very high for Scotland and are comparable to that of the south of England (although not as high as London obviously). Other than that the food and drinks prices were quite cheap. (£2 pints)

Aberdeen nightlife isn't fantastic as the Students weren't around. However it's pretty cheap and there are a number of clubs to choose and casinos. Good fun with the rest of the interns.

There were plenty of sports activities and nights out. The Shell subsidised hotel and gym was great.