Geotechnical Summer Student Review

Overall I did enjoy my placement at Atkins. They kept me involved in a diverse range of projects and towards the end began to feel like I was valued by the team. The experience will certainly help with my future studies are university and possibly career. It gave me a different view on the industry and how thing I have learnt in my studies are applied in real world situations.

I was introduced to the team I would be working with by my line manager on my first day. I work with a various number of colleagues during my placement and all made a point of saying how pleased they were that I had the skills to be able to assist them with tasks throughout projects. This made me feel part of the team.

If I ever had any issues or didn't understand a concept of task I always felt I could ask questions without feeling like I was being a pain. This made me feel supported throughout and if I ever required guidance I knew there would be somewhere that could take the time out to help me.

Unfortunately most days I was light on work and was trying to drag out menial tasks to pass the time. This was sometimes due to people being on leave as it being a summer placement or just generally the team being low on workload so trying to spread it out. This often lead to me just doing research or reading over peoples submitted reports to get more of an insight into the company.

I was given responsibility at times but often felt the tasks I were doing were being re-done as they didn't trust me. However aside from this there was one project where I was given a larger amount of responsibility and towards the end of my contract was passing information onto other colleagues of what needed to be done next.

The diverse range of tasks I completed will definetly assist me in my final year of me degree where I am specialising in the field I was working in. They also gave me lots of useful material to help me build up data sources for my dissertation as well as information that will help me during specific modules.

They general atmosphere was great. Everyone was generally having a good laugh amongst doing work. There was a good mix of interaction between the junior and more senior colleagues which made it a very friendly place to work. It was also really good to work alongside other disciplines in the same office.

The organisation of the summer placement set up couldn't have been better. My line manager and supervisor were always 10 steps ahead and knew what needed to be done. I undertook the relevant training on my first day and was giving a health and safety induction. I was also well informed of any services within the office I may have needed to use throughout my summer placement.

A future with the company is very attractive. The summer placement enabled me to have a more in-depth understanding of the geotechnics and thus wanting a subsequent career in it. As Atkins is the countries leading engineering consultancy I have an understanding of the fantastic opportunities there and will definitely apply for the graduate scheme next year.

On my final day the whole team went out for a meal at lunchtime paid courtesy of the company. This was then followed with a night out in Leeds straight after work which was a great send off. I also received a number of invitations in my six weeks there to go out after work which was nice. I was also given the opportunity to go out running on a lunchtime with some colleagues that do it for more of the social side.

Lived at home

Leeds city has an excellent nightlife. There are plenty of clubs and bars to go to. I would say it is one of the best nights out in the country for the value of the money you spend. There is a wide range of different places to go to suit everyones taste. The restaurant selection is also wide to accommodate a variety of tastes.

Wasn't made aware of any out of work activities.