Mechanical Engineering Intern Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working for BP, I have been given a lot of very interesting, challenging work that I have had the responsibility for ensuring a quality output, this has been very pleasing and has been much better than expected. As well as this I have gained a lot of knowledge and learnt how to properly write technical documents.

I felt very well valued by my colleagues as In was provided with opportunities to undertake tasks that would have a business impact for BP, this showed faith in my abilities from my manager and other colleagues, as well as being given a lot of opportunity to work independently my colleagues were always willing to give me advice and help where needed and I have been able to see that the work I have been performing has been very useful.

I was given guidance by my manager when I required it and at the start of each task to give me an overview of what needed to be done as well as to give me the background to each task, and throughout I have been able to get guidance or other areas to look at from my manager but I have also been able to work independently without the need for constant supervision, which is something I believe is very positive.

I have consistently been very busy on a day to day basis with at least one task always active, and very often several allowing me to do parts of one task while waiting for information on another,. This ensured that I was always busy and not reliant on other people too often. There have been times when I have not had much to do, as would be expected from any job, but I could always ask my manager for work if there wasn't any to do.

As stated in some previous answers I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement, I have been given tasks that are important to BP as a company and that provided a benefit to the company through having me complete them. I have been allowed to undertake my tasks with minimal supervision, unless asked for, showing trust in my ability as an engineer.

One of the major skills that I will have for life through the internship is the ability to communicate technical information effectively, and in a manner that a professional engineer would deem acceptable, while also ensuring that I have the ability to communicate information to those without specific expertise. Furthermore I have learnt a lot of knowledge about how what I am taught at University can be applied in real engineering situation to actual problems.

I have been based in a client office during my internship and so not everyone works for BP. I have found that the office is quiet and that it is not a particularly talkative atmosphere. However everyone in my team, and that I have talked to in other teams has been extremely nice and people are always willing to help. Furthermore I feel like the atmosphere is a lot more close knit than if I was based in the main office as everyone works a lot more closely with each other.

The whole setting up of the internship, and the application process was very well organised and clearly defined as to when each stage would be and when feedback would be provided. However the setting up of where I have been based was poor as not being based at the main site meant that finding accommodation was very difficult, with no support being given. The actual internship has been very well organised with clear tasks defined at the start that required finishing by the end and clear knowledge of when to set up mid tasks meetings to determine progress.

I have felt like my manager has invested significant time in ensuring that my reports and technical communication are at a high level while suggesting other places in which I could improve myself, this has helped me develop my communication from University levels to an industry level. To this extent I believe the company has invested in my highly, especially as the internship aims to provide a platform to a job with the company.

I really want a place on the companies graduate programme, were it to be offered to me at the end of my internship, this is the path that I would like my career to go, and the opportunities for getting into management if I got onto the programme are very good at the company. However the information on how many roles are available is not very good and hence I don't know if I will get offered a role.

There were two socials organised for us but apart from this there was no social interaction with the interns based at the main office due to it being two hours away from the client office that I was based. This made it very hard to have any social interaction with other interns due to cost and time constraints, there should have been more events organised for the interns to improve social activity. I did manage to live with a fellow intern from the client site and socialising with him was good but limited at our location.

I was based in the south of the country near to London living was expensive, as it was expected to be, cheap properties are rare in the location I was based. Socialising was also a lot more expensive than I have been used to normally, with nights out having to be in London and hence costing significant quantities of money. Not to mention that too get to anywhere else costs a lot of money, as trains through London are very expensive so even to go for cheaper nights out was expensive. This wasn't really a concern though as I was willing to pay to have good nights out.

It wasn't, there are no clubs where I worked, and only limited clubs, therefore in order to have any nightlife travelling into London itself was needed, hence the cost of going out went up significantly, as well as the hassle of having to stay with someone else due to no trains running to where I was based late in the evening.

I was part of the one of the committees at the company that gave me the chance to help run the only social activities that included all of the interns, and there was a gym very close to where I was living that had a corporate discount and that attended most days. There weren't any sports clubs near me so I couldn't play sports but the gym had a swimming pool which was good. I also was involved in a STEM day and a poster competition outside of work that were very enjoyable to be a part.