Mechanical engineer intern Review

Every day of my Internship I have enjoyed greatly. I have been exposed to the Glen Lyon which is one of the major operations project in the North Sea. It has given myself a great insight to see how operations work day to day. There is always something new to learn every day which has made the role very enjoyable and satisfying.

Since day 1 I have felt valued by my team as everyone is keen to enhance your learning. I have met so many experienced engineers. They have explained their work thoroughly and effectively, focusing in particular on the importance of BP's core values. The project work I have been working on creates real value to the company going forward into the future.

My supervisor was very helpful in integrating myself into the team and then mentoring me throughout my Internship, making sure I got the most out of every week. My supervisor has introduced me to the oil and gas industry in general, an area of which I had very little knowledge prior to working at BP. She has then gone into more detail in specific areas of engineering and has been very patient with me throughout the 11 weeks. I can't fault the support I have had because it has been second to none.

At BP there is always work to do. I have also been exposed to equipment overhauls which was brilliant in enhancing my understanding of the equipment used offshore on the Glen Lyon. The field trips organised for the interns was another opportunity to develop my learning in areas away from my daily team. These were very well organised and gave me the chance to ask more question and network with BP employers from different disciplines. There is always something new to learn and the business is that broad you can ask anyone that will help you to learn something new

The equipment overhauls I attended gave myself an opportunity to represent BP as a company. I felt solely responsible for delivering BP's standards to vendors. My project work was very important as it was all to do with safety offshore which ultimately is a very important task. All your work is reviewed and checked by you line manager which allows you to learn from your mistakes.

In my final year of my Masters degree I can pick my elective classes. Having completed an 11 week internship with BP I can know use that learning and knowledge in picking oil and gas classes at university. The fundamentals of oil and gas will help to enhance my project classes and classes where teamwork is involved.

The atmosphere in my office was brilliant. There was no one policing the hours you were working as long as you got the work done you could come and go as you please. There was always time to talk to colleagues about their weekends etc and it is not just all work based chat.

From the minute I worked through the door, I was coached into becoming a better engineer. I was exposed to many things across the various disciplines which has broadened my horizons and educated myself to a higher level. Every week I had set objectives to complete and I help was always available if required.

I am a mechanical engineer by background, however, BP exposed me to chemical, electrical, process, subsea and many more disciplines. I learnt so much more than I originally thought I would and I am very grateful to those who took time out of their day to teach me new skills.

The challenger scheme looks very appealing as a student leaving university. The internship allows you to talk to challengers and listen to their experience through BP as some of them completed an internship too. The challenger scheme develops you into a chartered engineer which is one of my main goals in life.

The social side of BP was brilliant. I was part of the Intern social committee, where we organised a variety of activities outside the office. One of the objectives was to ensure inclusivity amongst the group. This was achieved by listening to all the social ideas from the interns and then producing a ranking system to gage peoples interest in the various activities. Once the scores came in, the committee could then get to work on organising the various events.

If you bunk up and live together and share flats/house you can really drive the cost of living down. There was lots of things to do at night and everyone made sure no one was spending nights alone, unless they wanted to. We have became great friends and hope to remain to in the future.

There was a good choice of restaurants, bars and clubs. When the world cup was on everyone was keen to go to the pub and watch the football. One of the most rememberable social event that was organised by the committee was the games night at Codonas Amusement park, with full attendance! This was very enjoyable as there was a variety of activities i.e. ten pin bowling, crazy mini golf, dodgems and a rollercoaster simulator. It was a great team bonding exercise and definitely brought the group closer together. Prizes were awarded to the best bowling player, the best bowling team and the best mini-golfer.

There was a weekly 5-aisde football match that took place between the intern’s and the challengers. This carried on throughout the duration of the internships and was a great way to meet new faces from different disciplines. All in all, nine interns took part over the summer in the weekly match.