Analyst Review

by Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)

This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.

Rating

2.3/5
  • The Role
    1.9
  • The Company
    1.9
  • The Culture
    3.3

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
  • I was given a distinct lack of work, this meant I spent most of my days sitting waiting for something to do. When I was given work it was regularly either busy work which clearly was not actually going to be of use to anyone or it was something that did not require me to be remotely competent, such as reading hundreds of data points from graphs manually.

    1/5

  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
  • My colleagues were very friendly, however it is hard to feel valued when it is clear what little work you are being given is of little to no value. I was invited to all fortnightly meetings, often taken to the coffee shop and had lunch with them every day, though the meetings merely highlighted how little I had to do.

    4/5

  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
  • Any questions I had were answered swiftly and thoroughly, this was probably the most positive aspect of my placement with my management being very friendly, relaxed and easy to talk to. It made asking for extra work, or doing personal learning such as programming skills a lot easier as they were understanding of the situation.

    3/5

  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
  • I would say that the work load was comparable to roughly a weeks worth of uni work despite having been a three month placement. Usually I burned through most of my work when I was given it and this led to me sitting around waiting for more work, often being held up by people being away.

    1/5

  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
  • What little work I was given I was allowed to run free with, taking it in whichever direction I pleased, however the lack of work feels like an inferred lack of responsibility, I was not really given deadlines and though I appreciated this more relaxing environment - it is my summer after all it was not suggestive of being given responsibility.

    3/5

  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
  • This was very personal, and I feel like many others would gain more skills for their degree but with the specific task I was working on it was highly specific to this job and would not be useful outside of this company. It did have a slight advantage of practicing some programming skills, but I have already done a fair bit and given the specificity, it is hard to think this would give me any benefit for the future.

    1/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
  • I think it would have been perfect if I had more work, but as I had so little to do what little that went on, though often entertaining it was difficult to not feel overwhelmingly bored whilst sitting doing nothing all day. The environment was very relaxed and there was a clear level of humour around but mostly people kept to themselves and did there work.

    2/5

  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
  • I dont think the organisation is naturally well set up for a short term placement. The rate at which you are inducted to using IT, meeting people to gain opportunities for work and gaining access to the needed additional IT systems within which most of the work occurs makes it hard. but some students seemed to be swimming in work, whilst I had nothing to do.

    2/5

  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
  • 1/5

  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
  • Flexi Time

    Sports and Social Club

    National Travel

    Financial Bonus

    Company Parties/Events

    Staff Sales/Staff Shop

    Working from home

    5/5

  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
  • Given how little I enjoyed my time here it seems very unlikely I would go back, the job actually seems fine, it just doesn't seem well set up for short placements due to the slow pace of work picking up and IT inductions. I am sure having done the placement makes me more attractive.

    1/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
  • I didnt get involved however there did seem to be a group of summer students who were clearly social together.

    3/5

  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
  • There were plenty of options for both living and socialising, living in friends university accommodation allowed for cheaper living and socialising was cheap as it is a student city. We were also offered a free shuttle service from several nearby train stations allowing a saving in cost of living by either walking or cycling and getting the free shuttle.

    4/5

  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
  • being a student city there was a plethora of nightlife, plenty of clubs pubs and bars. It I went out with old friends who live in the area so I would say the nightlife was definitely one of the better aspects, and it is always nice to go out in a different city.

    5/5

  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
  • 2/5

    Report this review

Details

Internship (1 Month+)

Aeronautical & Aerospace Engineering

South West

August 2018


View More Reviews