Summer Student Review

by Atkins

This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.

Rating

3.3/5
  • The Role
    3.9
  • The Company
    3.3
  • The Culture
    2.3

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
  • I had such a great time at Atkins and was allowed such an insight into the engineering consultancy industry. I enjoyed learning new skills and applying the theoretical knowledge of university into projects in the workplace, developing my own understanding. I worked in the Infrastructure department at the head offices in Epsom under Water, Ground and Environment.

    4/5

  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
  • I felt very much a part of the team whilst working at Atkins, it was clear I was a short term member of staff to almost all my colleagues. That did not stop them however making conversation and making me feel welcome. I felt very valued as by the work I carried out and the opportunities given, when I completed work efficiently and to a good standard I was told this and thanked and everyone had time to spare to talk to me and help develop my understanding of subjects and the workplace.

    4/5

  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
  • The support from the Atkins team was extraordinary, although only at the company for 5 weeks I met with my managers and admin support within the first week to discuss the things I was looking to get out of my placement and personal development goals. That included getting insight into different departments around the business, site visits and contacts from everything from ways to get chartership to graduate programme guidance. Therefore I was visiting many people in different offices and they were so supportive of developing my skills and knowledge.

    5/5

  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
  • As I was around for only 5 weeks it was hard to get dug into projects, however I was involved in many jobs. I found that I tended to be busy with very few days of twiddling thumbs. The biggest problem was when finishing work quickly it was finding new work to do, I would suggest a proactive approach rather than reactive for those starting a placement. When I did start a project It carried on for some time and down time tended to be when waiting for reviews from managers of the work.

    4/5

  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
  • For obvious reasons I couldn't expect to be gaining a large responsibility for projects upon finishing 1 year of university. However I was respected and importantly trusted to take on work and individually strive toward the team project goal. For example of the work I carried out - Fluid dynamic models, selecting plant for waste and water treatment plants, writing up specifications for plant as well as more simple jobs such as file organisation and downloading to enable information to be available to the team.

    4/5

  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
  • I now have a better understanding of the workplace and have learned mainly about management, office environment and fluid dynamics. As I hadn't studied fluid dynamics and had only a brief knowledge it will help tremendously as I head into my second year and start this module. Giving me a head start into the subject.

    4/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
  • I was working within a very professional atmosphere and there was a lot of pressure due to deadlines in the office. I found the location I worked in had a hardworking attitude but did feel slightly quiet in terms of conversation at times. In contrast I also spent time working in another office location where the atmosphere was much more friendly, chatty and just seemed that although there was a high workload to be a fun and enjoyable office environment

    3/5

  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
  • It is clear that Atkins have students from school doing work experience or university doing placements/internships or even year's in industry quite regularly. Therefore it is very well set up, I had my own admin/organizer to refer to when need be. I'm not sure how easy it is to find out about the placements, I had a senior contact at the company who passed on my CV and covering letter. After interviews the response of confirmation was quick and the HR team were very organised in making sure everything was completed in time for the start of work.

    4/5

  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
  • I had a lot of investment from the company into myself including personal development goals. They accommodated me to meet many people to discuss what work and projects were being worked upon in the department and then a brief overview of how mechanical engineering fitted in and what I should look for in further developing my own career and studies. Many took time to talk me through tasks and projects that I was unfamiliar and enable me to learn new skills required. I had access to the company training online and also mentors during my 5 week placement.

    4/5

  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
  • Flexi Time

    Sports and Social Club

    3/5

  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
  • I would be honoured to come back to Atkins and work within the company. A graduate scheme is available and will definitely be something I look at applying to in the future. I discussed this at length with many people and saw first hand the amount of graduates working within the company in the many departments. There are two main career paths on offer, project management or technical engineering side, both offer a way to be promoted further in the company with hard work. There are 15 'levels' with higher ones showing more experience. It is clear you can obtain a higher level and progress with the right attitude.

    3/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
  • I didn't meet many fellow placement students, all though were nice and friendly but we didn't socialize out of hours.

    3/5

  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
  • I didn't really have a cost of living due to living in a family home and commuting on bike for 15 minutes to work. The social scene gets more exciting up in London than around Epsom where the offices I was working at are based. Being a suburb of London prices are fairly high but local establishments provide decent drinks at reasonable costs. The cost of living would be high however if I wasn't staying at my parents, the placement provided a good salary but not enough to get by on renting in the area.

    3/5

  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
  • Standard but nothing special

    2/5

  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
  • There were many notices on the noticeboards - tend to be sports related - but there was a cricket afternoon that the majority of the office went to with accompanying BBQ.

    3/5

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Details

Internship (1 Month+)

Mechanical Engineering

South East

August 2016


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