Student Review

I had a great time at the insight day. I was able to hear some of the experiences of graduates working at BP. It was good being able to ask questions and do some networking, I gained a lot on the day and have received an insight into things like what technical interviews at BP are like and what the values of the company are.

I felt welcome on the day, there was definitely a friendly atmosphere which made it a nice environment. We had a lot of interactive sessions and spoke to graduates on their graduate programme. It was interesting hearing the stories about how they got to where they are. The company provided us with breaks, snacks and lunch and made sure I and the rest of the group were ok.

I received some guidance on what the application process for BP is like, although it says it on their website, it was nice hearing it first hand. I also got to look at some of the dos and don’ts for the application form. In addition, I was able to receive guidance on how to use the STAR approach especially in an interview setting.

I am defiantly feeling much more confident about my networking skills as I was able to talk to people confidently and make new connections. There were some tasks that involved teamwork, so this was an opportunity for me to enhance my teamwork skills. Communication skills also played a huge role, especially with having to network and I am quite glad that I was able to exercise this skill. Moreover, I was able to practice my interviewing skills as well as be an observer and the interviewer, it was interesting taking up these roles as I was able to identify my strengths and weaknesses in terms of my interview skills.

I think it was structured quite well, there was an agenda set out for the day so we knew what to expect. Perhaps some activities where set for a longer time than needed but at least there was enough time to do everything set on the agenda which was great.

The general atmosphere was lively and the environment felt welcoming. The people I had spoken too were genuine and had a lot to talk about. To me it seemed like everyone was enthusiastic and the group I was which was very social, we all spoke to each other during our breaks and lunch which was nice.

I was told the core values of BP in a presentation and was even given presentations by other employees. From that alone, I would say that the company tried to make their culture as clear as they could. Our group asked certain employees what values out of all BP values they thought was used most with commutations from their department to other departments and it was interesting hearing their responses. They spoke about diversity and inclusion and how important it is I’m the company which is great to hear.

In terms of my future career path, going on this insight day has allowed me to see what opportunists there are out there for me. I have not yet fully decided what I want to go into specifically but I do know that I am interested in the Energy sector and this Insight day has helped me visualise what I could possible be doing I the future.

There was an opportunity to network and meet with other employees, both graduates and other people that have been working there for a lot longer. We had many opportunities to network, one at lunch and another in a social and networking session. I was given the opportunity to ask questions as well as learn more about the employees.

They were pretty good, I manage to make some good connections and learned more about the employees. I have made linked in connections which I plan on making use off in the future. Overall, I feel I now have a wider connection of people in industry in the field I am interested in which makes me more confident as I know I can contact the people if I need to ask questions.

I would recommend this to a friend because I feel like that the insight day provides helpful informations about application processes which would be useful for anyone regardless of the company. As the insight day was specialised, I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone not interested in oil and gas or anything to do with chemicals and energy. However, if it is a friend similar to myself I would say it is a good experience that have.