Mechanical Engineer Review

I really enjoyed my internship and felt that I gained a lot of unique knowledge and experiences from going onto site and meeting a lot of different people from around the business. It was a completely new environment for me and everyone was very welcoming and keen to share their knowledge.

I felt very valued by my colleagues. They were all very willing to share their knowledge by sparing some of their time to give us talks about their specialist area. We got involved with team activities and everyone was very welcoming around the office. Due to the small size of the office we were all personally known by all members of staff.

There is a very good programme in place with a mentor who is a few years older in your discipline and a manager. My manager was extremely helpful in having weekly meetings to update him on my objectives and particularly helpful around my assessment in helping me prepare and practice.

The work fluctuated - unfortunately my manager was absent due to annual leave and training for several weeks. This meant that my progress was slightly slowed however the days were quite varied with the opportunity to regularly go to site which broke up the day and attend/organise meetings as we pleased.

I was given a reasonable amount of responsibility - my manager told me that if I wasn't doing my jobs then they would have to be done by someone else so I was definitely doing real jobs and not just filling the time! I was given quite a lot of independence whilst carrying out my projects in order to set up meetings and decide the avenue I wish to go down.

I had a lot of on site experience that I had not previously been exposed to which really helped cement my learning and put into perspective the work that I had been carrying out. I also participated in a poster competition which built my design and presentation skills which was really beneficial to take back to my degree.

There was a really nice relaxed atmosphere in the office - everyone was very willing to help and all the staff knew you by name! Also the 'flex-Fridays' (every other Friday off) was a huge plus and it really meant that whilst people were in the office they were working. It was also very sensible hours (8-5) and they didn't expect you to work late.

I think it was relatively well organised. There was clearly a set structure but I did not like that you only got told your location a month or so before the placement and this is also the case for the graduate scheme. Also I felt that being a smaller office, there was less focus on us in terms of organising events and socials etc.

There was lots of opportunity including the poster event and lots of meetings organised to further develop our skills. My manager was extremely attentive and keen to get me involved in as much as possible and stay on top of a lot of projects which really expanded my learning and knowledge of the company and their work on a day to day basis.

Due to the uncertainty of the location of the job and how likely we are to get a job I will definitely keep looking around however I have really enjoyed my time here and would happily take the job. I think because it is such a broad company we will not know what sector we are being offered a role in and this could massively change your job so this is a slight negative.

There was a very good social scene amongst the interns - we all lived together in uni halls and travelled to work together. We also had lunch together and arranged meeting and talks with all the interns. When preparing for the poster competition we all worked together and helped prep each other. I met some great people!

I was based in Glasgow and therefore it was pretty reasonable and the student halls were fine. One downside was that we did have to travel and hour to work there and back every day but we didn't want to live any closer to the office since it is in the middle of nowhere !! The subsidised lunch was also great (allowance for a hot meal every day) and free tea and coffee meant I saved a lot of money too.

The nightlife was great in Glasgow! However, as said previously, the location of the office is not great and there is not much surrounding it. So you would have to commute if you were working here but with car share it wasn't too bad. There are a huge amount of clubs and bars around since it is a big city to suit whatever you fancy!

I didn't spend much time in Glasgow around the weekends so I couldn't say.