Summer Student Review

Learnt a lot of very useful skills and found at all time there were very experienced and skilled people available to help. I had regular meetings with supervisors and was given an great insight into the business and the type of work that is carried out on a day to day basis

This was one of the weaker sides of the placement - however I believe this is mainly due to my placement being for the purpose of completing an individual research project rather than typical work that the company would carry out which involves a lot more interaction with other colleagues. I felt more and more welcome as time went on by the wider group and those helping me were always great. Everyone is very focused and there is a lot of rotation in the office so there isn't such a team atmosphere generally

10/10. Cannot praise this highly enough - the purpose of my placement was to complete a project for my masters' dissertation and they have given me a brilliant opportunity to do well in it and given me tremendous guidance without gifting me things. The whole experience felt very planned and organised and even though my main supervisor was out of the office a lot I have not felt lost at any point. Strongest part of the placement generally.

This isn't so applicable as I was working on a project that has direct benefits/consequences to the final grade of my degree so I am working towards my own deadline. That said I was given short-term goals to achieve and thought these were very reasonable and helped to keep me focussed without making me stressed.

Again, this isn't very applicable, but I was given free reign of the software and computer facilities - I think if on a more traditional placement you would be placed on direct client work with reasonable oversight perhaps after some training at the start. There isn't a hierarchical structure feeling so I doubt you will feel like a bit part

Received top class advice on specialist software used all across the nuclear industry and developed Python skills to surprising levels by taking inspiration from already existing scripts. Overall the experience was invaluable and although I hope to be offered a full time position I think my employability has generally been greatly boosted by the skills I can now add to my CV

Focused work generally although there was a good friendly conversation on a daily basis - neither fun nor dull. The atmosphere changes a lot with the variation in staff numbers due to people away at meetings/on secondment which helps to create some variety of working atmosphere which I enjoyed. Again, think atmosphere would be better if on a regular placement working with others more

Very well organised. I was given a detailed brief and regular meetings helped keep me on track and understand what my short, interim, and long term goals were. Generally everything I needed was available and in an easy to find location.

I was expected to learn lots myself which I enjoyed, but I also received many hours of good instruction which greatly helped my development. I also received a license for bespoke software which other employees had not yet received, so I felt like a jumped to queue - which is nice

Very. The graduate scheme seems exciting, with the opportunity to get involved with lots of different tasks on a variety of different project for an array of clients. The work seems challenging and sometimes demanding but there is scope for lots of travel and interesting secondments

There were attempts to rejuvenate a football team, but this took a lot of effort to get off the ground. There has been one social event during the two months and were it not for my personal hobbies and interests I think I would be very bored outside of work - it seems like some others were in that position

Living was cheap, although I lived nearby so my commuting costs were negligible. Generally, below average in cost, but also below average in quality. You get what you pay for, perhaps

Stockton Heath is nice but Warrington is to be avoided in general. Liverpool and Manchester and within easy reach and both are excellent. It depends where you live generally. If living nearby the Birchwood office your night out will require taxis, or face more commuting time each day

There is a gym very nearby and another guy and I played 5 a side football once a week with a local team not associated with the office. There are other recreational activities available but none appealed to me and I was content to just exercise and save the fun for the weekend since that generally involved traveling a little.