Placement Student Review

I really enjoyed my placement at BuroHappold, people were super friendly and helpful. The Bath office had a very nice atmosphere and the Young Engineers Forum was a great informal way of meeting young BH people of my age.

I felt valued within the team. I was included in team touchdowns, meetings, emails and Skype calls. I was asked what I would like to achieve during my placement and what areas I was interested by my line manager who then where possible gave me work within those areas.

I was given a good amount of support from my supervisor, who let me know he was available if I ever needed help. The team was really open and willing to help and so if my manager was busy I could easily ask others on the team.

Depending on the general work load of the team. In general I had the right amount of work to do. I was never left with nothing to do.

I would be given a set of tasks to do from several people around the team, It was my responsibility to organize my own time. I was responsible for calling and emailing manufacturers, the client and BH employees in other offices to help during the design process.

A lot. I improved my AutoCAD skills and learnt how to use new software (QGIS). The projects I was involved in allowed me to build upon the theoretical knowledge I had been taught at university with practical application.

The Bath office has a great atmosphere. The building is a renovated old mill and has a lot of character and my office had very high ceilings and large windows overlooking the adjacent river. My team were really friendly and open, there were several graduates who were immediately welcoming.

Relatively well organized. My team were not aware of my start date and so were not ready for me when I first arrived, but they made up for it with good organization throughout the rest of my time there.

I was given one-on-one chats about the progression to chartership, and was allowed to sit in on a quarterly year review.

I would like to return to BuroHappold in the future and they have streamlined the grad scheme application process for interns, so that they do not have to apply externally, but that after your feedback form the HR team apply on your behalf internally.

The YEF (Young Engineers Forum) is a great way to meet new people, it includes all non-charted engineers and other young employees. There are socials, after works drinks and organized events such as weekends away camping. Almost every day at lunch time there are fitness activities available. I tried both Yoga and Pilates which are a great subsidized price (£1.50 for an hour) and take place within the building with a professional instructor.

Not as expensive as London, but definitely not the cheapest. I paid £85 a week bills included for a small single room a 35 minute walk from the office. I found this on spareroom.com and lived as a lodger. This option was significantly cheaper than renting halls for 8 weeks only. The gym memberships are very expensive for a short duration.

There are not very many clubs in bath, but there are lots of nice bars and pubs.

During my eight weeks they organized two Young Engineers Forum camping trips across the UK. Myself and a few graduates in my team went to a pub quiz. There are always drinks after work in the local bar after work on Friday, and whenever someone finishes a placement or leaves the company for maternity leave etc. open invites are sent for people to go out for drinks post work. Its a pretty friendly atmosphere.