MEP Engineer Review

I really enjoyed my internship for two main reasons. Firstly I learnt lots of new skills related to my university degree, which help to put the studying in context with real world applications. Secondly I met lots of interesting people within and related to the sector of Building Services engineering, which was inspiring.

The office environment was very encouraging and friendly, which made employees feel valued and so enjoy their jobs more than they might otherwise do. This was also demonstrated in the feedback given to me after I had completed certain pieces of work, where I was thanked for what I had done.

I was given a large amount of advice and support from my supervisors, ranging from help on the work in the office to job prospects to engineering as an industry. There were always people willing to help and good explanations given when I was unsure of something. They also pointed me to external resources I could use to build up my understanding in certain areas.

As with the nature of the job, some days were busier than others. When there was a project submission deadline to meet or a client meeting, the demand and workload were fairly high and I was kept busy. However this definitely came in waves and I had to ask around for more work quite often.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility in that I was working on ‘live’ drawings and carrying out calculations. I feel that I could have been given more responsibility for the larger tasks, which would have allowed me to try things in different ways and have taken perhaps a more flexible approach.

The calculations I carried out in the office were good training for the future and something which I can build upon in my degree studies, allowing reinforcement of the theory we are taught. I also improved my skills in using various computer packages and software, which is something I may not otherwise have experienced.

The office felt quite relaxed- it was easy to get up and talk to people/go over to their desks. There were spaces for discussion and meetings which provided a feeling of both involvement and hard work in a comfortable environment. It also had quite a fun feeling, with light hearted conversation.

It was fairly well organised, although I feel that more things could have been planned for me to do in the first week or so, where people seemed a bit busy and didn’t quite seem ready to provide me with work. There were no technical problems however, and all my emails/laptop/computer were all set up and well organised, which shouldn’t be taken for granted!

There were opportunities to attend various Professional Development seminars where there was the opportunity to learn more about some technical aspects and other companies which provide the services used by the office. However it didn’t feel as though I developed many non-technical/job-related skills whilst on my internship, but this wasn’t too disappointing.

There are many positive aspects to the possibility of future employment, including things such as the office location in London and the relatively large number of other graduate engineers working there. The company is very friendly and good at what it does. They work on many inspiring projects and there are opportunities for travel or working in one of their offices abroad.

There were a good number of students on placement in the company who often met up together for lunch etc. There were often drinks after work towards the end of the week or upon completion of a project which was a good opportunity to get to know colleagues outside of the office in a more casual environment.

I was fortunately able to stay with family during my internship, however the cost of living otherwise may have been a setback, particularly in Central London. The cost of socialising was larger than many other parts of the country, but not unacceptably so, and this didn’t put us off from venturing out in the area.

Whilst expensive and sometimes bizarre, London nightlife is like no other…

There were lots of opportunities including softball and touch rugby. There was also a company summer BBQ!