Summer Intern at Siemens

The project I worked on was very interesting and added real value to the business and team I was working in. I was given the opportunity to feed back the results of my placement to the Senior Management Team. It was fantastic that my work added value to the company. Additionally, I managed to learn a lot through the work I was doing and also got to see other parts of the business throughout my time there.

My colleagues were extremely welcoming, very friendly and genuinely interested in bringing someone new into their team. Through the work I was doing I was able to up skill them in programming, they really enjoyed these sessions and were extremely grateful for the work and time I had put into them. Everyone was always happy to help and seemed genuinely interested in my development.

I was given as much support as was required for the work I was doing. This was fantastic as it gave me the freedom to explore the topic and really learn from it, without slowing me down too much when I hit a major bottleneck. Management was interested in the progress of my project and actively set up meetings to share the work I was doing.

Apart from the first few days of work I was busy throughout the entire summer placement. The team I was working within had clearly prepared for my arrival and outlined a task that matched the time span of my placement. I did not feel bored at work, there was almost too much work for the time span of the placement.

I was given the task of teaching fellow members of my team the Python programming language through weekly sessions. This allowed me to take lead of the team through regular sessions and develop my presentation and communication skills. Additionally, I was given the opportunity to present the results of my placement to Senior Management and advertise the hard work of my team members.

In particular this placement allowed me to greatly develop my technical skills in programming. I learn't a new programming language (C++) and worked with a range of new tools to help in the development process. I was allowed to work with a new software platform that is used in industry. Additionally it allowed for the continuing development of my professional skills.

The atmosphere was very welcoming and my colleagues were very friendly. The environment was focused, however team members would have a conversation and a joke throughout the day.

Initial set up of the placement through the recruitment team was a relatively simple process. However, it did take a long time to set up and required quite a few hoops to jump through before it was complete. Once arriving at the business it took about a week to have all the tools required to operate properly on a day to day basis, ideally this should have been ready for my arrival. However, the team I worked in was very prepared for my time within the company and had clearly outlined a task they wanted me to complete.

Future employment prospects are very good. The company has graduate schemes which they are actively trying to engage me with that have a wide range of benefits. Additionally, there is an internal jobs market where all jobs are listed globally. Opportunities for development are clearly laid out and available to all.

The cost of living was relatively high, higher than I would experience at University. Rent cost was fairly high and opportunities for renting were quite difficult to come by. This made the process of securing a place to live very difficult. Local restaurants were very reasonably priced and there were a good range of supermarkets available locally. A subsidized canteen on site definitely helped with the cost of living.

Some sports events were organised by other members of the company. These were supposed to happen weekly but were often cancelled due to low numbers. Members of my team also went climbing regularly, this was great to get involved in and relatively affordable for the summer. Additionally local gym membership was fairly cheap and flexible.