Platforms Systems Student Review

A good summer placement with time spent in lots of different areas of the company. There are plenty of opportunities available and open to placement students. You will get more from your placement if you seek out and ask to do extra things on the side and you will probably be allowed to do them.

Yes, everyone is very friendly and will give you their time. They want you to come back as a grad and therefore they will give you their time and want to make you come back. It is a relaxed atmosphere and one in which you can feel comfortable to work in.

Whenever I had an issue with the work I was doing there was always someone nearby who was able to help. I worked with lots of different people and it was easy to ask for help as and when I needed from the relevant people. All in all I was supported well whether my supervisor was on the next desk over or not.

My projects were quite small and that meant I was able to finish them very quickly. I did on multiple days have time spent looking and asking around for work to do because I finished the job I was given and there wasn't anything else around. Don't let this put you off however, in the middle of my projects I was busy and had lots to do during my days for the most part just on occasion I had less to do.

About average I would expect for a summer placement student at a company for only 3 months. I had my work which I was left to do and I was in charge of that. I was given the opportunity to coordinate other events as well such as a visit to another company as well.

The research and analytical skills I developed will be useful during my degree and future jobs. It was also useful to understand how industry and academia both operate so that I am used to that environment when I get a job after graduating. This is therefore a useful opportunity for more project based uni tasks to come.

Relaxed and chilled. Dstl has a smart working environment (hot desks) where you just find a place to work, generally with a "home" for your team and you just work roughly in that area. It was a good environment and we would interact a fair bit as a team outside of just work conversation.

It was good with lots of opportunity to meet the other placement students. A group chat was set up before arriving at Dstl which allowed you to organise yourselves with other students before getting too dstl. There were also conversations about coming back as a grad or as a summer placement student again which was very useful.

It was good for a summer placement. There were lots of options to take if I wanted them. It was a useful time to bye able to chat to different people individually about what they did and how they got to that position. If you are looking for significant personal training and development you wont get it from a summer placement. It's not worth it for the company as they need to get a return for their investment and there isn't enough time over a summer to achieve that.

They are good, I have already had discussions with my team leader and other team leaders about getting a summer placement next summer. This is a great opportunity to be able to understand how the company works and where within the company appeals to you. You are then able to sort a job pretty easily out of it if they want you.

Yes it was easy to get in touch with the other students before, during and after the placement. This was set up by Dstl. There was also a speed networking event set up for the placement students to get to know each other at dstl. This was really good to get to know the other students.

It wasn't too expensive on the whole. There is quite a bit to do around and its easy to get to different parts of the south from Porton. You also are able to get some good discounts off things as someone who works for Dstl which is well worth it!