Engineering intern Review

The team I worked with were the best part about the experience. The effort put in to make me feel at home and support for my projects was fantastic. Everyone on site were very friendly and welcoming and willing to go out of their way to help you out with any issue.

Colleagues would often ask for my input in discussions and issues that arose and take time out of their busy schedules to explain things and run through plans. They took a genuine interest in me and my career goals and were very good at facilitating a an internship that I could get the most out of.

Advice on future careers and my interests in the engineering sector was given and if I had questions or requests outwidth their knowledge or experience they were always able to point me in the right direction. My manager was always on hand to give me a hand with my project or offer support.

Alongside my assigned projects I was often ask to give support to members of the team so I was kept fairly busy throughout the internship. A note for possible improvement is to have an actual action plan and key deliverables that is required of the intern so that they have clear and concise goals.

A fair amount of responsibility was given and being able to speak with key business figures was also highlighted in this. It gave me great satisfaction to actually make an impact and carry out work that would be implemented and improve the business long after I have left the company.

Learning alot about the mechanical engineering side of the company as a chemical engineer was very insightful. This has given me a great appreciation for the work carried out by other disciplines. Some of the skills and training developed were: welding, metal prep and fitting, lifting and various types of welding.

Very friendly group in the office always willing to help and share their experiences and give advice. Office itself was a portacabin which felt abit isolated from the main building so there was not much socialising with other members of staff and I only met the other interns once for a photo.

Onboarding process was very poor from a HR perspective. Very little communication and alot of work had to be done by myself to get the ball rolling. Ended up starting the internship 3 weeks later than originally planned and no compensation for that time or travel to interview was give. Not ideal as a student.

The team were great for personal development as they listened to my aspirations. I had no communication from HR once I had started the program so there was no initial briefing or knowledge transfer/ plan for the internship. Compared to previous internships this felt more like a full time job as opposed to an early careers opportunity.

Graduate scheme not offered for chemical engineering students. I also cannot apply for the mechanical engineering scheme despite studying an engineering degree and having worked alot with mechanical engineers. The team expressed on many occasions how they would love to have me back but communication was really poor from a HR perspective.

Absolutely non-existent. Having had no communication from HR I found out over half way through the process that their were other interns on site when were invited for a photo for the weekly brief. Being situated away from the main building was also a barrier for socialising with other interns.

As a student of a university in Edinburgh, I stayed in the city of Edinburgh and travelled by bus to the outskirts where I was picked up everyday by a colleague. Travel time was 3hrs per day which resulted in very little socialising and none whatsoever with colleagues from work due to long distance from accommodation.

Nightlife in Edinburgh is great, especially as the internship took place over the fringe festival and there were plenty of shows to keep you occupied in the evenings and weekends. No planned nights out with staff and again nothing planned as part of an early careers networking evening which I have experienced in other companies.

None. No communication from HR, the distance from the site to Edinburgh was over an hour and a half for me and with no car it would extremely difficult and costly to get to any activities that may take place however as there were no activities I cannot comment on the matter.