RDD Intern Review

I actually loved my time at Dyson! It was an incredible opportunity to work with (and learn from) experienced engineers and to be given actual responsibility over the work I was doing, which was actually relevant and instrumental to my teams progress. Also, hanging out with other interns for the whole summer was awesome.

I felt useful and valued by each of my team members surprisingly. During the internship I actually worked with every one of them at some point, so I felt like I was actually making a contribution to their work. Also, they started coming to me for help towards the end of the internship which was awesome because it felt like I was not just a spectator but actually an integral part of the team.

A bit more guidance from my supervisor would have been useful. I was definitely looked after but mostly by my teammates. I think the supervisors at Dyson are just too busy and a bit too stressed to worry about their Interns. On the other hand, this gave me the freedom to explore what my team was doing, and to jump in and help with what I knew I would be good at, not just what I was told to do.

I am not going to lie...I was clock watching a bit during my first few weeks. But after I started becoming more involved, I forgot that the clock even existed and days started to fly by. However, due to the nature of how they structure their tasks, some days you just wont have enough time and other days you will have almost nothing to do, so you have to be flexible! I spent a lot of my spare time reading up on the company, and trying to catch up with the acronyms!

I wish I could tell you what I was working on to give you an idea of the responsibility given to me from day one but unfortunately I cant...Let me just say that there were days where I was checking my work 3 or 4 times over because of how nervous I was that it would go wrong! I found it to be very empowering, but humbling in a way because I had to ask so many questions. Overall it was great, but prepare to be challenged.

Apart from all the cliche ones like: timekeeping, organisation, teamwork etc. (I did develop all of these but they are the ones everyone probably talks about). Prioritization was probably the skill I used most, especially on my most busy days. I had to say no to some things to get other things done, which was uncomfortable to say the least but it is definitely a useful skill. Professional communication and small talk were also skills that I worked on during my time there.

Dyson has a very laissez-faire leadership style on the RDD floor, which is great but can definitely suffer from lack of organisation (which they are working on, but its taking its time to take effect). On one hand it was great because I was almost never at my desk! I was always up and about talking with other teams, completing tasks, helping my team and going for tea (lots!). I almost never took my work boots off. These were all aspects that I thoroughly appreciated. On the other hand there were points during my internship that I just felt a bit lost in the mass of people, and that some people were just along for the ride which is annoying. You probably have to deal with that everywhere though.

I think it was great. Not only were we well received, taken care of and looked after but they even provided us with exactly the same equipment as all the other engineers (things like a toolbox, laptop, multiple monitors, complimentary workboots and a mask if you need it etc.). However, some things like getting the right softwares and getting registered on the system could have been done a little more quickly.

I think that it really shows in how well they train you when you arrive. I probably had a full week of training and induction sessions (collectively) over my internship, which was great! However, monitoring of our personal progress could have been done a bit better, because then we would identify what skills were lacking and had to be improved on. I felt that I had to ask how people thought I was doing because there was a bit of a lack of feedback from my supervisor. Other than that, the training was great.

I got an offer as most of the other interns did which is awesome, but the average age at Dyson is below 25...so keep that in mind.

Yeah! It was great! We all got along really well and organised our own outings such as nights out in Bristol, bbqs, go karting, concerts, lake visits etc. Most people were very involved which meant that most events had about 80% attendance which was fun! We also had lunch together every day which was really great. I wouldnt dismiss the idea of living near Dyson; summer in the English countryside is very fun.

Better than London but surprisingly more expensive than other small towns in the English countryside.

Malmesbury is pretty quiet, except for the Smoking Dog (Pub) where you will always find Dyson folk. There were a few houseparties but the BBQs are what you really need to get involved in!

Yeah! I joined the Dyson airsoft group which was awesome. However, I think organisation of these outside of work groups could be done a bit better so people are aware of what is going on. Currently pretty much everything relies on word of mouth which is ok but means that you have to be really curious and talk to loads of people to get a grasp of what is happening, which some people are not so great at.