Operations Critical Telecommunications Intern Review

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Everyone in the office was extremely nice, and you could approach anyone with questions and they would take the time to answer. There social scene was also quite good with the other interns always willing to do something after work. BP also organized some social events that were really extravagant, but unfortunately, these events weren't that frequent as the HR team had a limited budget.

I was doing real work that someone else would be doing if I weren't there. When I finished my internship, my work was passed onto a graduate that was continuing it. I felt valued as I could see how the implications of my work had an affect on the company. I also had other engineers asking me for my findings, so it felt like I was doing important work.

I was given loads of guidance by my line manager, but for when he wasn't around, he introduced me to a lot of people that could help, so I was never really stuck on any one thing since there was always someone I could ask for help (and everyone were always more than willing to help!). Sometimes, I would call someone up in Aberdeen or Houston, and they would help me with whatever it was that I was stuck on. Other times, I would just ask whoever sat next to me. It was very easy to find someone to help.

I was quite busy, but it was not always related to my project. There would be various events, talks, or meetings scheduled during the day. These talks were usually about the company and the various work that goes on in BP. Some of these talks were about work-life-balance, so it wasn't all related to the project, but it was all interesting. Some of these talks would be given by vendors pitching their products. These talks were quite interesting since it gave you insight into the type of technical problems that the company face and how the vendors propose to address these problems.

I was given an important project to do, and I was expected to do it. The way I approached this task was all up to me, so I felt like I was given quite a lot of responsibility. In addition, I took part in other activities such as organizing the flip-cam competition and various meetings, so I did have quite a lot of responsibilities.

I was able to form good networks with the employees and the other interns (we still keep in touch). I also learned a lot about the technical side of my project. Finally, apart from being a massive boost to my CV, I now also have loads of examples to use for any future competency-based interviews.

Good atmosphere. Some people would go around and chat with others, so it was quite a nice environment and not at all stale like a library. However, there were also several "quite rooms" available if you needed to do some serious work with minimal distractions. Other than that, it was quite a nice atmosphere where you could overhear the occasional joke, but also not get too distracted with your own work. The employees here hotdesk which means the desks are first-come-first-serve. I found this quite annoying since it meant you could have a different desk the next day, but once you got used to it, it wasn't too bad.

It was quite well organized with a checklist of what you were supposed to do during your whole internship. The HR team would also send out the occasional pulse check survey, where they asked about your internship and made sure you were up to date with the things you had to do. There was a mid-internship review with you manager where your manager gave you feedback on your performance and suggested areas of improvement.

I was given access to the BP weblearn which contained several e-learning modules that proved quite useful. I learned a lot from these modules. In addition, there were several talks organized for interns only. These talks provided more information on the challenger scheme and what it is like to work in BP. We also had a presentation skills workshop, where BP had hired an external professional to come in and give us feedback on our presentations skills. There were also many opportunities where you could further develop your soft skills and show competencies like organizing technofest, flip-cam competition, lunch n learns, etc.

Very appealing. The challenger scheme, as the graduate placement is called, is rotation-based which means that you get to travel and see how BP operates in different places around the world. In addition, the company really looks after you, and the work-life balance is amazing, so the graduate placement is quite appealing.

Yes, there was a good social scene. Most nights out were in Kingston/Clapham since people weren't as keen on traveling to London and back. However, we did have some nights out in London. Most of these events were organized by interns themselves, so it mostly depended on who wanted to join and where they were based.

London is quite expensive, as are the areas around London. However, it IS London, and we were payed enough to take full advantage of it. The company has a subsidized bar just 5min from the office, so that was pretty cheap. Costs of living is still quite expensive though (for me at least since I was based in London, but I know that people that stayed closer to work lived cheaper).

Nightlife in London is nice. Nightlife around sunbury is pretty much dead, but there are areas close by where we would go out: Kingston, Clapham, Richmond. These areas were quite okay.

Interns had a football session once a week after work. We would also go out every week or so, so there were some opportunity. I know some interns took golf and jujitsu lessons, but I had quite a long commute (from London), so I didn't.