Communications Intern Review

I've really enjoyed my time during my placement; I was very fortunate that my job was very varied, which really suited me. I was able to work on a range of projects with lots of different people from throughout the business and I also had the opportunity to travel to a number of different events and conferences.

I felt really valued by my colleagues and a real member of the team, people would come directly to me when they needed support on their projects.

I was given a lot of support and guidance from my manager, especially at the start of my placement. We had a really good and open relationship and they were always happy to give me feedback on my performance when I asked for it and support in the areas that I needed to improve on. I was also really fortunate that my manager helped give me projects in areas which I'd expressed an interest in.

This fluctuated quite a lot throughout the year, and naturally I became more busy as I got further through my placement and had my own projects to manage. There were times of the year where I was really busy and there were other times which were quieter, just depended on the projects which I had on at the time.

I was given increasing amounts of responsibility as I went through my placement. Now I am trusted to run my own projects and people come directly to me for communications support.

I have really been able to develop my skills during my time on placement, which I believe will be very important to me for both finishing my degree and in the future. Having the exposure of working in a big international company has enabled me to get an insight into how this works which has been an invaluable learning experience.

The office was relaxed and quite quiet, which could be good, but sometimes it lacked atmosphere. Everyone was always really nice and friendly though.

I thought that overall my placement was well organized; I knew what I was meant to be doing within my role and regular meetings with my boss helped track progress/ know the projects which would be coming up. The intern development program was also well organized the trainings took place around every 3 months and it was made clear before what the objectives of each session were to help get the most out of it. The application process was also really good and I heard back from each stage quite quickly.

Yes, the company did invest in me in terms of training; the Intern development program was really useful and there was the opportunity to sign up and participate in other trainings. I also had the chance to travel to attend training sessions abroad.

Although some of the Intern roles don’t have direct grad jobs you can still apply for different roles and get fast tracked. From my experience Siemens really values their employees and offers a lot of employee benefit schemes.

At my office there weren’t any other placement students and although there was nothing official set up through the company, everyone is really friendly and welcoming and often go out together after work. There are also opportunities to get involved in activities at work to help get to know more people when you first start. Intern development training is also a good opportunity to meet other interns from different sites/ departments.

Cost of living was relatively expensive where I was based.

Not that good- a couple of nice bars/ pubs etc. but not the liveliest place! It is quite well linked though so it is easy to get to bigger cities if you want a proper night out!

Yes, there were quite a lot of different things to get involved in dependent on your interests. You are also allowed to take a couple of days a year to support on voluntary projects.