Vacation Student Review

Naturally, each day was different but I generally found the placement least enjoyable in the first couple of weeks whist I was finding my feet and getting to know people. After this time, I knew a few people and felt much more comfortable with the work I was doing and so enjoyed the placement much more. Overall I enjoyed the placement.

As I said previously, at first i didn't know anyone so I didn't feel so comfortable, however once I got to know people over the first fortnight it was great! We had good banter which made for a nice working atmosphere and I felt like I was being helpful in the work I was doing.

Everyone was really friendly and apporachable and I felt like I could go and ask any questions I had. It was hard to know how long to struggle with a task before going to ask for help though.

Generally I had a good amount of work to do. It was particularly good because everyone spoke to each other so once I was nearing the end of a task whoever had given the task to me already knew someone with a task for me to start. This worked really well because I didn't spend lots of time waiting between tasks. Also, it was nice to have one main task and another background, less urgent task so that if I got stuck on the main task and couldn't get help straight away then I had something else to work on.

I was given some responsibility in putting together drawing sheets to be issued.

I vastly improved my Microsoft Excel skills, which is really useful and I got experience in using GSA which is also really useful. It was also useful to practice my sketching skills which will be useful in the design projects we do during our degree and beyond.

Everyone was very friendly and there wasn't any tension in the office. Often people were busy but banter was shared when people were less busy.

Overall the placement was very well organised, however it would have been helpful to be assigned a mentor on the first day to help with settling in over the first couple of weeks.

I got lots of help with completing the tasks I was required to complete and was also encouraged to attend the lunchtime talks that were help, which I did.

The prospect of working at Arup is very appealing and I had positive feedback from everyone I worked with at the end of my placement.

All the interns usually got lunch together and went for a drink on a Friday night. Also, the directors took the team out for lunch a couple of times during the placement too.

I was staying with family outside of London and commuting into London each day so there was a considerable but not excessive travel cost.

I did not go on a night out during my placement.

There were quite a few sports clubs, such as Ultimate Frisbee which we could get involved in.