Summer Vacation Placement Review

The internship was hugely rewarding and a good first experience of engineering in industry. I got involved in things outside of work and I feel like I got a good rounded experience of what work was like at Roke.

I was always made to feel part of the team and got to join in on department meetings. There were also big company socials that interns are welcome to. There are a lot of sports and social clubs active, which are good for meeting people outside your office / department.

Due to unfortunate circumstances my supervisor wasn't on-site for most of my placement, although I wasn't forgotten and there was still help available. Also, everyone I spoke to was willing to help, despite being very busy around this time. It would have been helpful to have more project reviews, with things that my supervisor hoped to achieve / milestones laid out more clearly. The feeling I got was the support and guidance was good enough for me, but not a stand-out part of the placement.

Generally I was as busy as I wanted to be - the project I was given was very challenging but also fairly open. I had a vision of what I wanted to achieve in the two months, which meant I was very busy for the two months. No-one was pressuring me to work harder, but there was lots for me to do in the time spent there.

I was given all the responsibility and freedom needed to do my project effectively. My work allowed me to be fairly independent from other work going on, so this didn't really apply to me. However, working on a site with higher security requires a level of trust and implies a certain amount of responsibility regardless of your work. There were other interns given a higher level of responsibility proportional to their project.

The research I did has given me new skills, and has given me insight into industry and upcoming issues / technologies. The programming skills are transferable, and I also had to attend meetings and present my project findings. The work I did at Roke was very similar to an extended university project, so this was especially relevant and useful.

There was a really friendly office atmosphere, although we were all fairly busy for the two months. I was in an office with a mix of staff outside of my department, so it was interesting to get an insight into other parts of the company. It would have been nice to have shared an office with a few more people from my department or undergraduates.

Roke has done the same placement scheme for a few years so the two months ran smoothly, and the organisation was good. There was very little hassle setting up, for example by day 2 I was already able to start work on my project.

There wasn't any additional training, although this may have been difficult for such a short placement. I was left on my own to do my own research. I was treated as a regular employee, so was given free sports membership, and the company clearly invests in interns as services such as security clearance are provided.

Roke Manor is a good graduate employer and has graduate development schemes. There are lots of employment opportunities, and the work is diverse and interesting.

There were lots of other undergraduates / graduates and there was a good social atmosphere. The internship was organised so we all started roughly the same time and got a chance to meet each other. We then had a few meet-ups outside of work, things like going to the cinema, and the pub on weekends.

I was living at my university accommodation, so the cost of living was similar to university. Southampton is relatively cheap for living in the south, and there are plenty of options for socialising. Catching the train every day was an easy commute, made easy thanks to the minibus service Roke run every day.

The nightlife is good in Southampton, there are plenty of clubs and pubs, and cheap options available. Romsey is quiet, although it has a few pubs there isn't much available in the village.

Roke has lots of clubs and activities. I joined in the climbing and badminton clubs, and was instantly made to feel welcome. As a student at Southampton, I could still take part in some activities running on campus over the summer.