Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering Review

The internship gave me a great chance to understand what working life is like. I had the chance to get involved in so many different areas outside of the department I was based in which made for a well rounded internship.

Everyone really looked after me, made sure I was easily settled in and were very helpful with work and other matters. Everyone was very approachable and never said "no".

I was given quite a lot of independence by my manager and supervisor but both were very approachable and always included me in any interesting activities happening at Ford. They also gave me regular feedback and "checking in" sessions with them.

There were some times when I was more busy than others but generally, I learned that if I wanted to be busy I needed to ask for it. Even though my daily schedule was generally empty I had to work on my own project at my own pace. The extra free time meant that I got involved in so much more than the other interns who were a lot busier with their own projects.

My only responsibility was to make sure I finished my project on time.

The internship was useful in terms of presenting skills, communicating with others and mainly understanding working life. I wouldn't say I learned a lot of technical skills related to my course but I learned how to be a lot more proactive in a business environment which can be used later on in life. I also learned a lot about safety engineering and global NCAPs.

Very relaxed atmosphere - people worked hard and had fun and occasional trips to the pub for lunch.

The main project was well set out but there was a lot of flexibility to get involved in other departments as well which was ideal for me.

I was heavily invested in, introduced to so many new people, got involved in so many events and tours and even had the chance to go abroad to Cologne to spend some time with the colleagues at Ford over there. All these activities didn't directly give me skills but I learned a lot from these experiences. Ford also have an EDAP scheme where they pay around £40 (pro rata'd) for you to take up a leisure activity or training of your choice or from the list of activities they have. They also had a system with plenty of online courses that you could sign up for or pay to do.

I would definitely consider coming back to Ford, my department expressed an interest in having me back. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and would come back.

There were occasional pub visits with colleagues and me and the other interns got to know each other and had a few day trips out and a few visits to the pub in the evenings. The interns were either at the Dunton site or the Warley site and through the Ford social networking website, we were all able to meet up.

Lived at home and commuted in so it was cheaper for me. Otherwise the area could be expensive for rent.

Not much of a nightlife but neighbouring cities have some clubs and quite a few good pubs to spend an evening at.

I got involved in up to five different departments and tours, within Dunton and outside at the other sites like Dagenham, a sports day and a trip to Cologne. I know that there was an EDAP scheme run which gives money towards a training or leisure activity. There are also sports teams that you can get involved in.