Platform Systems summer intern Review

Overall I would say that I really enjoyed my placement with Dstl. From the word go, I was given real work to complete and trusted to complete said work with very little 'hand holding'. I also went on a number of interesting trips with work, including being paid to attend Farnborough Airshow.

For the first couple of weeks or so, I did feel like a bit of an outsider, which is to be expected I guess. But as the placement progressed and I began to prove my worth, my team really made me feel valued and by the end I didn't want to leave.

From the start of my placement I was assigned a buddy, another member of staff who was around 3/4 of the way through Dstl's graduate programme. My buddy was my main point of contact for work, or for any queries regarding set work. He was always available and happy to help, but also happy to let me get on with work unsupervised.

Although I was never bored, I never felt hugely busy in my time at Dstl either. The atmosphere in the office was quite relaxed and the deadlines for the work I was being given were either a while away or non existent! However, I always had some work that I could be getting on with.

Whereas interns at some companies appear to be given typical 'intern' work, that doesn't go beyond their supervisor (if it gets that far!), I was being given real work that would be used within the company and by customers. This really contributed to making me feel like a valuable member of the team.

I did a lot of work using MATLAB, as well as writing code in Java and C++. In my final year, I will be required to use MATLAB a lot when completing my dissertation, therefore this experience will inevitably help. Beyond my degree, the networking skills I have picked up will be very useful in the world of work.

The atmosphere in the office was pretty relaxed for the most part. My team were always up for a chat or a coffee, but also knew when they needed to knuckle down and get on with some real work! Dstl does actively promote taking breaks, seeing them as valuable for productivity. Outside the canteen there is a ping pong table and garden chess available.

I do feel that my team could have prepared more projects ready for my arrival, as it would appear that this was a bit of an after thought once I had joined. However, processes such as IT induction and other training activities were all organised prior to my arrival which made my first few days straightforward.

My team manager encouraged me to go on all sorts of different trips, including the aforementioned Farnborough Airshow.

I still don't know yet but I do know that some students that have joined a sponsorship scheme where they are paid to come back and do more summer placements and then also as a graduate. Even if you don't get on the sponsored scheme, as a student who has completed a placement, you are guaranteed an interview. According to other graduates, it is apparently very difficult to mess up that interview.

Although we were mostly left to fend for ourselves (as opposed to company organised events), the group of interns that I lived with certainly led good social lives.

Coming from and going to uni in the north, anywhere in the south was going to be expensive for me! However, talking with other interns who either live or go to uni in the south, Portsmouth was considered a fairly cheap area to live and socialise. For our student house in Southsea we paid £80 per week, which included bills and internet.

Portsmouth has a fairly decent nightlife, and it's apparently quite reasonable (for the south!).

There are many activities such as football and archery that are organised by staff, for staff.