Mechanical Mainenance Engineer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at Centrica. The work/social life balance was perfect with extremely interesting projects and a fun office who were always keen to involve me in out of office activities. On my first few weeks I went out for a meal and drinks with my team, had a number of team building days, played 7's football and shot at clay pigeon shooting competition. The projects were also extremely interesting and rewarding, allowing me to use my university degree throughout.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues and peers. I did not feel like an intern and was treated like a real employee. I was given real projects which benefitted the company and was allowed to input in daily meetings and design discussions. I was given a laptop, work phone, free accommodation, a real office space and weekly review sessions to progress my learning.

I was supported throughout my whole experience. I flew around the country receiving training and guidance on many aspects of the company and had the opportunity to set up meetings with anyone in the company. I made the most of how friendly everyone is and had training sessions from my different departments. My flatmates even got to fly to Amsterdam and one got a weeks worth of training to go offshore.

I was never overwhelmed with deadlines but I definitely had more than enough to remain busy throughout my days here. The office operated 24/7 so if I needed to work late or come in late to work that was more than okay. This flexibility made the working week much more manageable. I had two main projects which I could've carried on with past my 10 weeks and had to leave a handover document stating what needed to be done further.

I was given real projects which would have been done by an employed engineer. These projects were not critical to the companies short term goals but benefitted them in a great way and I called upon by engineers who needed knowledge of the equipment I was dealing with. I was called upon in meetings and discussions as a fresh pair of eyes and given responsibility to give my own input for a solution.

I believe I made huge developments over the 10 week internship. I was given leadership roles and a team of interns to manage while completing a charity challenge throughout. Problem solving, communication, thinking skills, commercial awareness, health and safety, technical skills, the list could go on. I have a true appreciation for the energy industry and have practised many essential career skills.

The office I stayed at was in Aberdeen, it was bespoke made for collaboration and team work. Everyone in the office is so friendly and keen to share 10 minutes to help you settle in and have a good time. Cluster rooms are made for anyone to drop for an informal or formal meeting. There is free freshly ground coffee machines on every floor, free fruit, tea, cereal bars. Everyone wants to let you know what they're getting on with and is interested to listen to you too. I went on many nights out with grads, interns and managers. I played 5-a-side football with my office on Tuesdays, Aberdeen was a great city to be located with lots of great things to do.

Extremely well organised. I had many visits planned for me and I rarely didn't have a trip to be getting ready for. Whether it was flying to London to meet the other interns for an activity or travelling down to a site to gain technical knowledge. Hotels, travel, food was all catered for every step of the way. They are not shy to spend and allow you to have a great experience wherever you want to go.

As mentioned above, the company spent a great deal of time and money on me throughout the journey. Accommodation, food and travel was all catered for. I had training sessions in Excel and professional presentation and body language coaching. My flat mate also travelled abroad and my other had thousands spent on her to complete the offshore competency training and was meant to travel by helicopter to a gas platform.

Very appealing, I completed my performance review and sent it to the talent board along with a presentation to them showcasing my projects and key learnings. They will let me know in the next few months if they are interested in taking me on to the graduate scheme which sounds like an incredible prospect. The scheme has a great salary and ability to work abroad and offshore for 8 month placements. Due to the joint venture occurring it may be unknown as to where I may be placed but I am very excited by the prospect.

Very good social scene, I was based in Aberdeen with 4 other interns all my age doing engineering or procurement. We enjoyed drinks after work and got on really well. If you are based in other parts of the company you may have more or less interns around you. In Windsor (mainly marketing/finance/business/customer ops), you will have around 40 interns to live with in great student accommodation. I had many trips down to London with all 60-70 of them where we could have a great time together.

Aberdeen is fairly expensive compared to other parts of Scotland but everything was great and reasonably priced. The accommodation in free and work canteen is subsidised so you can save money easily. I joined a gym nearby which was very affordable and the nightlife is very affordable. The gym next door is subsidised but still a little expensive for a student. I managed to save enough to go on a 7 day vacation to Spain (5 days paid leave) and still came out with less overdraft..

Nightlife was good. Lots of great bars on Belmont street where lots of the team go and a few decent clubs (Club Tropicana was a personal favourite). The accommodation is for students so you get introduced to some of them and the nightlife caters for student life. Always places to go for a few pints or more.. the casino is open all morning/night if you fancy a breakfast after a night out.

Loads. Football, rowing, beach cleans, table tennis, yoga, parties, meals, clay pigeon shooting, dodgeball, cricket.. just to name a few I took part in. If there is something you want to do they encourage you to start and have a large fund to pay for activities or subsidise them heavily. Really is something for everyone.