Student Intern Review

by Siemens

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

Rating

4.5/5
  • The Role
    4.9
  • The Company
    4.5
  • The Culture
    4.0

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
  • I absolutely loved having the opportunity to work at Mentor Graphics. It was very interesting being in a software development environment as opposed to a pure mechanical engineering one. The office had a nice atmosphere and all of the employees were very friendly. I felt highly valued and that I was doing useful work which contributed to the company.

    5/5

  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
  • All of my work felt useful and meaningful which intern made me feel valued. Even in an intern position I was trusted from an early stage to undertake important tasks. My input was also valued in meeting and I always felt like an equal.

    5/5

  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
  • I was assigned to a number of tasks throughout the company however in most cases I always reported to the same manager. I could not have asked for a better manager throughout my placement year. He was very kind and no matter what he was doing he would always find time to help or talk to me. Everyone else in the office were only too happy to help if you had questions about a particular task including senior specialists.

    5/5

  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
  • Work load varied due to the development cycle as is the nature of software development. However managers were keen to know your current work load and would always try there best to ensure that you were not overloaded. On the odd occasion when I did feel like I had too much work they were happy to shuffle tasks around.

    5/5

  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
  • I was given a huge amount of responsibility from quite an early stage which was surprising however working in a small development team with only a handful of engineers meant that everyone had to do an important job.

    5/5

  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
  • A software development based placement year is quite different to most mechanical engineering placements. This has its pluses and minuses, it has helped me immensely as more and more engineering is done in computer packages and it is interesting to see how these packages are created. This has been useful for a number of assignments as it has helped me to understand how a range of software works. I also had the opportunity to learn a small amount of code which has been useful in my dissertation and in my masters year mathematics.

    5/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
  • The office was quite relaxed but this lead to a happy and productive working environment. Everyone was happy to help and very friendly which made it a joy to go in everyday.

    5/5

  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
  • The company was well organised however I believe that there might have been areas to improve in the organisation of the intern team. This was brought up at the end of my placement year and one of my fellow interns actually came up with a solution. It was also nice to have the opportunity to be able to mentor the new interns in the hand over phase.

    4/5

  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
  • The company invests a lot of time and money into training and personal development. The first few months consist of on the job training and working closely with the outgoing intern team. Whenever a new task was assigned to me a small amount of training was provided and then I could freely ask questions whenever they came up.

    5/5

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

    Subsidised/Company Gym

    Company Parties/Events

    4/5

  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
  • I would very much like to return to the company after my studies and I know of one other intern who has already done this.

    5/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
  • Along with myself there were three other engineering interns at the company, we regularly ate lunch together and worked together on a number of projects. We all got along well and it was nice to get to know students from other universities and in the years above me.

    4/5

  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
  • Compared to going to University in London it felt like I was rich. It sure beat living on baked beans and pasta all year! To have a salary on par with many other engineering companies and to be out of London was great.

    5/5

  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
  • The nightlife was OK once you travelled into Milton Keynes or Northampton but I lived in quite a remote area which meant that a car was required to get anywhere. Busses were infrequent to my area and taxi's could be a little expensive. I guess I have been spoilt living in London.

    3/5

  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
  • Between software release date events such as team kart building, forest walks and intern meals out there were plenty of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. The intern team also had pub lunches on the last Friday of the month which were a nice chance to get to know everyone outside of work.

    5/5

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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

South East

October 2016


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