CPE & Wireless Engineering Review

Virgin Media was an amazing place to work. I was never bored and every day is truly something new! Everyone you meet is willing to help you, whether they're in your direct team or not. There's plenty of training readily available, so if you really want to go out and learn something, you can. There's also the opportunity to travel and get yourself in front of real executive directors, even as an intern - which is far more than you'd expect from other companies!

Due to the sheer amount of projects that are running at any given time, Virgin Media is made up of lots of small teams all working together. You work very closely with your team and in my case, my team was excellent. I was their first intern but they treated me no differently, and were always willing to help when I asked questions (and I asked a lot of questions!). This relationship extended to our larger team and even to other departments - absolutely everyone I met along my 12 month placement was enthusiastic and helpful to me, and this really made the experience a whole lot more enjoyable.

Any time I needed help, my line manager was my go-to person. Not only did they ensure that I had all the support I needed from them, but they would also encourage me to ask guidance from their own line manager - something I wasn't really too keen on to begin with, but turned out to be a valuable lesson on asking senior management what they thought about my ideas. I was always given recognition for the work I did, and when I asked for criticism my line manager was very honest and would help me as much as they could.

When I first joined, I wasn't swamped with work. However, this wasn't a bad thing at all - it was the company easing me into my role. My only problem with this was that my 'easing in' was scheduled to take about 5-6 weeks, but I felt comfortable within 3 weeks. It was simply a case of asking my line manager when they thought I'd be ready to dig into some real work, and within no time I was given a few projects to run. My manager would also regularly check that my workload wasn't too much for me, and was excellent at delegating our team's tasks around each team member to ensure an equal balance.

I was given all the responsibility that I asked for - and this is what made my placement at Virgin Media so worthwhile to me. After completing several smaller projects, I asked my managers for more responsibility and eventually asked to be part of one of the company's most high profile projects at the time - although they were slightly hesitant at first, they gave me the benefit of the doubt and the feedback I received at the end of my placement was amazing to hear as a result.

Prior to my placement year, I wasn't really sure of where exactly I was heading with my degree. But after my year at Virgin Media, I was able to pick my final year options based solely on my interests and the new expertise I had picked up from the company. However, one of the most important skill sets I picked up at Virgin Media wasn't the technical expertise; I found that the corporate skill set was truly invaluable as it's something that can't really be taught at university or in a classroom. Learning how to work in a team with people of all ages and backgrounds with different areas of expertise, learning how to deliver reports and presentations to executive directors, and learning how to manage your stakeholders are some examples of the skills that I developed at Virgin Media.

My particular office was very technical - as a result of the amount of labs and security around, it wasn't exactly party central! However, there would be some charity events in the canteen and several 'fun days' for all the interns and graduates to take part in.

Because we were the first year of interns, the placement didn't feel particularly organised when we first arrived. It was only within our first week that we received our job descriptions, and the first few conference calls were a bit of a mess as everyone was trying to talk at once. However, after a few months, the interns took charge of these monthly phone calls and we ran them ourselves, even organising intern meet-ups and charity events. The feedback we gave into the internship programme was received well, and the second year of interns transitioned in very smoothly!

Virgin Media was able to provide the opportunity to do practically anything I wanted to do (within reason of course!). Whether it was attend senior meetings across the country, go on training courses to aid my organisational skills, set up meetings with software designers to understand their programs, or present some of my work to our directors in Amsterdam - I was able to do it all! There are plenty of opportunities at Virgin Media, but it is also important that as an individual, you go out and seek them actively.

I was pleased to be offered the graduate scheme at Virgin Media, and start a few months after I graduate. This happened at the end of the internship placement, and was again a great opportunity to listen to feedback from several managers and co-workers. I know exactly what I did well and also where I need to improve when I come back - something to work on during my final year at uni!

There were quite a few social gatherings amongst the interns and graduates throughout the year - because you're all in the same position, you tend to get along quite well and the atmosphere is really relaxed.

Very cheap - I was located about 30 minutes from my parents' house, so got my old room back!

Absolutely no nightlife on an industrial estate - however, this is where the social gatherings came in that were organised by co-workers.

Plenty of opportunities - whether it was drinking, golfing, watching movies, or even go karting.. everyone was always up for a bit of fun!