Summer Intern - Networks Review

I had a very enjoyable time working at NATS. My placement exposed me to a variety of areas of the company and allowed me to develop new still and expand my existing knowledge. Those working with me during my placement made me feel very welcome and support was available whenever I needed it.

I felt as valued as any other member of staff at NATS. Colleagues would regularly have technical conversations with me, and from the get go I was told that they would talk as though I was as knowledgable as any other member of staff within the team, but that if there was anything that I didn't understand or needed clarity on that I just needed to say and they would explain whatever it was that I hadn't understood.

On the first day of my placement I sat down with my line manager and went through a clear set of goals and deliverables for my placement. We worked together to produce a plan for my time at NATS and scheduled regular meetings to check on my progress as a part of this plan. If I had any issues with the work I was doing then my manager or any other member of the team were more than happy to offer assistance.

On the whole, I was a nice level of busy for the entire placement. I was given some clear projects at the start of the placement and the length of these projects married up nicely with the amount of time I was at NATS. The only time I was low on work was during my first week at NATS due to needing access to documents/rooms/etc. but once all this was sorted I had no other issues.

I was given three key projects at the start of my placement. These projects were entirely managed by me and it was down to me to plan resources, order equipment and generally ensure that all of the projects were finished by the end of my placement. I would say that all of this shows that NATS were happy to give me plenty of responsibility.

The projects I was working on at NATS, combined with the trainign sessions I was invited to attend during my placement, will all be incredibly valuable both for the final year of my University degree and in future employment.

The office has a really friendly admosphere.

I cannot fault the way the internship was organised in any way. The HR department at NATS were in regular contact with me before my internship started, my first day was a thorough induction to the company, there is an early careers forum which is an opportunity for all placement and graduate students to meet up regularly, and the department I was placed in had work organised for me for my entire placement.

There were opportunities to get involved in a variety of training sessions during my time at NATS. Memorable training exercises included a cyber security themed escape room afternoon, detailed tours of the different areas of the offices and talks by senior members within the organisation through the early careers forum.

I would definitely consider returning to NATS once my degree has finished. I have discussed employment prospects with the HR department and understand that NATS has a comprehensive graduate scheme which I will be applying for in the coming moths, and there is also discussion of NATS potentially arranging more tailored/focused graduate opportunities in the future.

I started my summer internship at the same time as three other people and NATS put us in contact with each other before we started our placements. Because of this, we were able to arrange to live together for the placement and therefore regularly organised social events outside of work.

We elected to live in Portsmouth during our placement as this seemed like a good value option which wasn't too far from the office we would be based in. Housing is competitively priced, however eating out/drinking felt a little bit expensive for the general area.

The nightlife during our time in Portsmouth wasn't the best but this was primarily due to the time of the year that our placement was over. Portsmouth is a University city and our placement took place over the summer when no students were in the city, meaning bars etc. were quieter than they would be for the majority of the year.

There were some opportunities to get involved with events outside of work however there were not a lot of events organised over the time I was working at NATS. During the course of the year NATS does organise a number of events through the numerous social and sporting clubs they have within the organisation.