Construction Engineer Review

My Internship was such a good experience. With such a great scope of work at the start, a really friendly and helpful line manager and a great team to work with there wasn’t a single moment that I didn’t enjoy. I felt I was actually contributing to the project I worked on and had challenging and enjoyable tasks throughout the 3 months I was there.

I felt fully valued by all of my colleagues, both in and out of my team. Sometime the work I was completing meant sending it out to more senior members of staff for input/comments and I always felt that this work was a priority to them. I always felt respected by my colleagues and knowing that the work I was completing was an actual deliverable for the company made me feel of value to the team. Very senior employees at BP also always had time to talk with me about their careers and the work I was doing and I can honestly say I didn’t feel like an intern I felt like an equal.

The guidance and management system at BP was fantastic. I had a line manager, a mentor and a buddy assigned to me at the start of the summer. My line manager was great at describing my tasks and explaining what was expected of me whilst also allowing me to learn and branch out on my own. My mentor was based in office and was around for anything I worried about – be that too much work, not enough work or just how to go about asking to leave work early one day. My buddy was on the challenger scheme and based abroad but was so helpful to talk to about all the things linked to the grad scheme. I felt like there was always someone to answer my questions and weekly meetings with all of these people meant I didn’t feel lost once.

Being busy is something I really wanted to be during my internship. I always said yes to tasks and that meant I was constantly on the go and actually working with three different teams! I attended anywhere between 1 and 5 meetings in a day and also had reports and technical notes to write and spread sheets to work on. I think the amount of work I had was entirely dependent on me so could have been less if I’d liked. Often if I finished the work I’d set myself as a target I had a quiet afternoon but usually it was go go go. I never felt like I was under too much stress and it was constantly encouraged I speak up if I felt I couldn’t cope.

I personally feel I was given a lot of responsibility over my internship. Some of the work I did directly affected design work or was a specific deliverable of my line manager and therefore had to be completed with care and attention. I was also entrusted to run meetings on my own and therefore had to be confident in what I was presenting and explaining. It was a great feeling knowing people trusted me with these responsibilities.

I think the main skills I will take away with my and apply to my university studies are meeting preparation, planning, organisation and communication. I feel the internship has helped me develop in these areas immensely and they are all so applicable to later life. I also complete a number of soft system subjects for my degree and learning what kind of work goes into a project and how this is recorded and how to write technical reports will really help when completing these subjects.

The office was fairly informal, quite relaxed and inviting. I got along with some colleagues really well that meant the day passed quickly with some laughs in between working. The setup was slightly old fashioned (as I was based in a contractors office) and was perhaps better in the BP head offices but after being in both I felt there was more movement and noise in the office where I was based which was great. I always felt welcome and everyone always had time for me. The office was never dull and had a great balance between productivity and light heartedness.

My internship was extremely well organised. In the first week I had an introduction day where we (the interns) were introduced to BPs policies, how things would be run over the following months, who to contact if we had a question about the internship, when certain intern events would be run and all the extra-curricular things we could get involved with etc. We then had a follow up meeting in week 5, more or less bi-weekly emails updating us on when things were and suggesting where you should be at in your internship and a weekly question call set up. We had an online share point with all updates on and lots of helpful downloadable documents. The HR and recruitment staff are all fantastic and were always available to answer questions or point you in the right direction.

With regards to personal training all interns had to complete fundamental training online (Codes and Conduct and Conflicts of Interest). There was an online training website that you could browse and search for any training and so long as it was available you could do it. I do think this was a good way of showing that the company wanted to invest in me. I was also constantly invited to participate in skype discussions and meetings when new awareness issues arose that BP wanted its staff to be familiar with. It was constantly encouraged that you develop as an individual and I was fortunate enough to have access to the grad scheme road map so was able to see how the work I was doing could benefit me in the long run.

The future prospects with BP are really appealing. The graduate scheme is one of the best I have read about and I feel that having an internship with them has helped me see how the graduate scheme would work. The challengers I have spoken to all seem to be really enjoying the scheme and that makes me want to join too. Careers in BP also seem really diverse and challenging which is what I’d like. I also like how much of a priority it is to BP to try and have a diverse and safe workforce. The only negative things are that to begin with if you get accepted by BP you won’t know where you are based and this can lead to some early problems with sorting housing. In the grand scheme of things though this is likely to happen at most other companies so isn’t a huge concern.

As I was based in a contractor’s office it did mean I was away from the BP hub where most of the other interns were based (in Sunbury). At the hub there is a bar and gym on site and often the interns would meet up after work for a quick social before going home. It was too difficult for me to get to the hub before people went home so I do feel like I missed out here. As I was based in Leatherhead (a short commute to London) if I wanted to find a social scene it was down to me to find it and often this wasn’t with other interns as they didn’t live near me. The colleagues in my office were all slightly older and as there wasn’t a pub/bar/social setting near the office after work socials didn’t happen. Towards the end of my internship I did make some good friendships at work so did meet up with them for an organised leavers social. There was also a charity ball that I went to (organised by interns and challengers) however it would have been nicer to go to various events rather than spending more money on one ball.

I was based in Leatherhead, living in Epsom, just outside of London. The areas themselves were really lovely with some beautiful walks and parks near by and pubs in the centre of town however there weren't very social places. The area, as it was outside of London, was expensive ~£600-£700pppcm and there wasn't a lot to do on weekends. However it was so easy and cheap to pop into London to meet friends on other placements (~£3-35 return) and was certainly cheaper than living in the big city!

There isn't much / any nightlife in Leatherhead and if you wanted a louder and more vibrant scene then further into London would be better. I was living in Epsom and i did like the town centre (a few of pubs that weren't too expensive) however nightclubs were not a thing. Sadly there was no real night life near the office as it was a contractors office in a business park. However i don't feel like i missed out too much. The area was quiet and after a long day at work I didn't feel the need to hit the clubs. On the weekends i went to visit friends so had access to better nightlife then.

Yes there were quite a few opportunities to get involved with activities outside of work. At the start of the internship you could apply to be on an intern committee and help organise various events that ran across the summer. There were different community days where you could help promote stem subjects to school children and volunteering schemes where you could help clean up the environment all in Sunbury at the hub. There was also a poster competition and after all these events there were small socials and drinks at the onsite pub (in Sunbury). The social committee organised a sports day, bbq and a Charity Ball which were both good fun and every Friday there was a Frisbee game at the BP hub in Sunbury. There was a lot to get involved with and there was you could be as involved as you like!