Discovery Day Review

The discovery day was well thought out, with lots of different activities throughout the day, all of which allowed us to speak to the other people who attended, and improved our knowledge of BP and the energy industry in general. The tours around the site were very fascinating, and seeing the different areas and how they linked together was very interesting.

I felt very valued whilst on the discovery day. Many different members of staff came to speak to us at lunch, and all of them were willing to spend a lot of time talking to you individually or in groups and speak about their careers and their roles in BP, and how they got to where they are.

As this was a one day insight, we did not require guidance or support. However all BP staff were very helpful and provided us with lots of useful information.

The skills developed while on the discovery day were very helpful. At the end of the day, we had a session to improve our interview skills. And although this was only short (~30 minutes) I felt I learned a lot about how to prepare for an interview within BP and at other companies.

The discovery day was well structured. We had a set schedule at the beginning of the day, and all the different parts of the day ran at the correct times. The tours maybe took a bit longer than scheduled. But this was probably a good thing as we got to see more of the site, and learn more about how BP operates. The day did overrun slightly by roughly 20 minutes, However throughout the day nothing felt rushed.

Everyone at BP who organised the event were very friendly, all the staff who came in to speak to us were very helpful and informative and told us what life was like at BP, what different groups they have at BP and different sports that go on, and what life was like in the surrounding areas around Pangbourne.

Whilst this was only a one day event, I felt the company invested a lot into us, many different people from different areas of BP came to speak to us, and offered a lot of their time and knowledge. Also BP offered to pay for train travel to the event and if you live over 3 hours away, they reimburse you for an overnight stay in a hotel nearby.

The discovery day helped me to understand what life would be like in different areas of the pangbourne site. At lunch we spoke to many different members of staff, with a wide variety of job roles, and speaking to each of these people gave a very large overview of what life at BP consists of and the day to day life of someone working at BP.

Talking to different members of staff allowed us to see what the company culture was like, and the overall feeling of working at BP Pangbourne. The atmosphere seemed very friendly, and everyone who worked there seemed like they felt they could always ask someone for help, and the different areas spoke to each other to help progress around the whole of the Pangbourne site.

To say it was only a one day event, the content was very helpful. It allowed me to see whether a career in energy was interesting to me, and also as they also test and manufacture lubricants at this site, we got to see what testing goes into engine lubrication which was interesting, and I would definitely consider a career in this area.

For this event I have been told I will be reimbursed for both travel and a hotel the night beforehand (due to living over 3 hours away from the site). I have sent the expenses form to BP and they say payment should be sent before 5 weeks.

At lunch time we had roughly 10 different members of staff at different stages of their career speaking to us, from recent graduates to people who have worked at BP for a number of years, and we could speak to them individually, in small groups and get a good understanding of their careers and lifes at BP

The employees said that there were many different groups and events that they could take part in, and the opportunities for the employees seemed plentiful, and many members of staff took advantage of the opportunities that are provided.

The employees spoke about many different activities that they can get involved in, there are many different groups and sporting events that they can get involved in, and speaking to the employees at lunch time, it sounded like many of them did take part in the groups and took advantage of all the different groups that were there.

I would definitely recommend this discovery day to a friend, as it was very informative, very useful, and it gave me a good insight into energy, oil and gas and lubricants. I felt very valued and felt like BP invested a lot into me for that day, as all the different activities were well thought out and well planned,