Engineering Intern Review

The placement gave me a fantastic platform on which to put into practice some of the technical knowledge I'd learnt over my first two years at university. I felt welcomed and valued from day one, something I felt allowed me to begin making an impact as soon as I could.

I was part of a team who cared greatly, both in making me feel part of the team and overlooking my development. Outside of the team everyone I came across was exceptionally welcoming, always willing to take a moment from what they were doing to answer any questions I had. Different rewarding events such as the intern summer event made me feel valued as an intern by the wider company not only in my area.

I always felt that those around me on a daily basis cared about my development. I was regularly encouraged and supported by both my management and the company's HR team to have a clear personal development plan. In all of the work I completed I was always given the credit I felt I deserved as well as fair and constructive feedback where needed.

At the begining of my internship there were times where I wasn't as busy as I may have wished, mainly down to me being given more time to complete tasks as I learnt. By the end of the internship I was alway busy and able to go about my day as I wished, never having to worry about running out of things to do.

Any projects I was handed I was given full direction of and allowed to approach them in my own way. I always felt that the work I was part of was making a significant enough impact on the wider company. Although, due to the nature of the role and time being limited, there were certain longer term projects I'd have enjoyed being a part of but unfortunately couldn't.

The skills I developed were directly transferable to my final year of studies, with some of my modules being based on work I produced in my time at the company. As well as this softer skills such as time management and report writing were of great assistance in my later project work.

Differently to other office environments I'd previously worked with, the open culture at Virgin Media was a breath of fresh air. The lack of closed office space meant that everyone was approachable, making it easy to find the right person to answer any questions I had. On a day to day basis, most people were friendly, chatty and took a genuine interest in my internship and my work.

In following a previous intern into my role, there was no teething problems in getting me settled into the team, since most people were aware of the intern scheme. At the beginning of my role, I was given both short and long term breakdowns of my role and what I'd be up to, this was also adjusted to fit my own personal strengths. I was always given the opportunity make what I wanted of the internship, being allowed to work on any project I felt was beneficial to me, something I felt made the role far more engaging.

Different scheme sponsors both withing my department and the HR team, organised regular informative events and talks to aid my development and knowledge of the company outside of my day to day role. Additionally, if I had any intrest in learning about the work of other teams and departments, both my manager and scheme sponsors were always accommodating and helpful in making sure I was given the time to go and do so.

The company are fully invested in giving interns the opportunity to apply for the graduates scheme and recieve fast-tracked admission. The aplication process is clearly explained and well run.

All the interns at my office regularly got together to socialise both within and outside of work, giving a good sense of a young community, this was something I felt helped a lot in making the transition from university to work.

Being based in the Reading area the cost of living was slightly greater than I was used to in university. Rent was rather high although cheaper alternatives to mine may have been available. Most interns tended to live in Reading and commute out of the city to work, this meant an additional cost for commuters etc. Although the work wage was enough to cover for this.

Being based in Reading a city that holds a university, social events weren't too hard to come by, with plenty of bars and a few clubs around to make use of. Also, where Reading wasn't enough, being close to London made it possible to catch the train into Paddington in the evening, experience London's nightlife before returning back later.

Occasionaly there'd be the opportunity to go for a drink or a meal after work with colleagues. Additionally, the intern community tended to get together regularly for various social activities, rangeing from nights out to sports etc.