Summer Student Review

I enjoyed this placement very much, being giving varied tasks and undertaking a site visit with another team. Civil Engineering as a career has so many aspects that it was impossible to be bored when given a task as there is always something new to learn. The length of the placement, working with people from all over the organisation (not just in my office) and being treated like a junior employee also gave a realistic insight into what a career as a civil engineer would entail which was the overall target of completing an internship.

All my colleagues were professionally friendly and seemed happy to work with/have a summer intern around. Some people, especially those in senior positions, made a real effort to recruit work experience, summer placement and year-long placement students and many of the graduate engineers had spent a summer or two at Atkins before joining. This gave the impression that I was valued by the firm and my colleagues.

All the management staff/supervisors were willing to provide their full support with any difficulties in the role and I'd struggle to fault them in this aspect. The practice directors to my/other line managers were all easily approachable and willing to talk you through problems you hadn't tackled before until you gained a full understanding.

Being the holiday period add waiting for jobs to come in, there were a few periods where there was too little work to be shared around the whole office. The majority of the placement was however fairly balanced, with enough work to keep you interested but at a pace that allowed you enough time to think about the problem and gain a full understanding.

I was given a reasonable level of responsibility in that I was given a task that I had to deliver, some of which would directly influence the works to be carried out but there was always someone checking your work. This helped to reduce the pressure as any mistakes you made would be picked up and rectified by someone you were working with. A great emphasis is however placed on self checking your work before they are picked up and it is your responsibility to do this.

The work I had been given was not covered in my course by the time I started the internship so the skills I learned here will be invaluable in the future. From completing compensation event forms, analysing traffic data to producing Autotrack drawings even if these things aren't covered in the next three years of my course, I will have for when I start my career giving me a head start.

This office is fairly small, but it gives you the opportunity to get to know people better than you would be able to at one of the larger offices. Personally I prefer this as you can still work with people in other locations (through skype) but you can learn about how your colleagues work much more quickly.

The internship was extremely well organised, fairly straight forward application, timely response prior to and after the interview. Before arrival, I received an email telling me who to report to and when. On my arrival, a desk with a computer had already been set up and I was immediately introduced and started on my induction tasks.

There is plenty of opportunity to develop your skills outside of the task you have immediately been given. Atkins run a webinar series that you can browse at your leisure detailing things from how Atkins make money to design principles and data compliance. They also ran a steelwork detailing training event in the office which was very interesting.

Assuming I go into civil engineering as a career Atkins appear to be an excellent company to work for and I wouldn't hesitate to apply to the graduate programme when I am finishing my degree. Some of the graduates in my office did follow this route after their own internship. I would however say that it gave me a lot to think about and I have not yet discounted other industries for employment.

As the only summer student in the office at the time, didn't socialise with colleagues outside of working hours. I would say that the workplace culture in no was discourages this and those students at larger offices would likely have a different experience when it comes to the social scene among other placement students.

Stockton (and North East England to an extent) is a relatively cheap place to live compared to other parts of the country so overall living and socialising is extremely affordable. Assuming you already have accommodation nearby the salary is more than enough to cover the costs of living and commuting.

Stockton and the surrounding areas (Middlesbrough and Yarm) have a perfectly good nightlife and there is something for everyone on any night of the week. The 12 week internship is plenty of time to explore and you won't have a problem finding something for you in the area. Newcastle, Durham and York are also short journeys away and have an excellent night life.

I believe there are opportunities to get involved in such as football and quiz nights as discussed at my interview but I didn't partake in any events, nor were there any opportunities. I don't believe it is necessarily Atkins responsibility to set this up. Teesside does have plenty of things to get involved in if you're looking for something to do after work.