Vacation Student Review

Throughout the duration of the internship, I was involved in a range of projects, gaining an understanding of the different projects the energy team are involved with. I also got to go onto site, which was a highlight of the internship overall. I would recommend the intership to other students.

I felt like a part of the team in Sheffield throughout my 5 week stint at Arup. All of the team were very friendly, and helped whenever I needed. I was trusted to do work on important projects that the team were involved with, and presented my work to clients.

I was given support by all members of the energy team. Mainly senior consultants set me tasks, and I was always able to speak to them or anyone else on the team for help, from recent graduates or the director of the team, everyone was willing to help with any questions I had.

Throughout my placement different days had different levels of workflow. However, this is part of working in consultancy. Overall I was kept reasonably busy, with a wide range of work to do throughout my time at arup. for the 5 week period, I would say I had slightly less work than ideal, however some days were quite busy.

I was given the right amount of responsibilty during my time. I was allowed to work on tasks and trusted to produce a certain standard of work. However, there was no expectancy placed upon me that made me feel pressured with the work I was doing, as the team understood I was new to the company, and new to industry.

The experience working in a professional environment has helped me with my work in my fourth year in university as I can carry this into my project work. It has also helped gaining an understanding of what life is like in industry, and has helped me to understand what kind of career I want after graduation.

The atmosphere in the office at Sheffield was very relaxed. Hot desking was implemented, which meant that there wasnt a built in hierarchy, creating a split in the team. Everyone was easy to talk to, and it was welcoming from the first day. It was possible, and encouraged to speak to every member of the team.

The internship was fairly well organised. I was paired with a member of the team in a mentor style role. However, after working there for a week, I was working with the team individually, with other members asking me for help with the work, and the internship largely depended on what work the team required at the time.

Arup is a company I would definitely like to work for when I graduate from university, and I would recommend an internship or a graduate job with them. I learnt a lot in my short 5 weeks with them, and enjoyed my time there working on all the different projects.

Sheffield is a fairly cheap city to live in. Accomodation for the 5 weeks was very reasonable, and I was able to live comfortably with the wage I was earning at Arup. In terms of socialising, the cost is similar to any other city in the north, and is very comfortable.