Mechanical Engineer Summer Placement Review

A project working with two other of the Engineering Summer Placement students was provided as the bulk of work in the 7 weeks. Each day there is some other wider business or planned summer placement training or meeting to gain insight into Centrica and the energy industry. When not attending these project work is very much based on you and your team working independently and reporting back to a line manager.

Centrica really supports students, I have set four objectives and discussed them with my line manager to improve over the summer internship. There is much wider support with many workshops and training meetings planned by the summer placement team to support these from improving communication to improving inclusivity. I have learnt how to better present arguments in a business scenario and how to work quickly in a consultancy environment.

It was great, Centrica provides really informative descriptions of their business and roles within the business on applications and their website. Once working in Centrica the placement management team provide lots of seminars on work the business is doing. They also give you the opportunity to meet a wide range of graduates and managers from different streams to discuss there areas of work and ask questions giving you a really in-depth look of the business.

The culture is great, everyone you peak to seems excited about their work and is happy to share about their experiences. We had the chance to visit the CSL site and get a tour. They have all different inclusivity opportunities to learn which are very interesting and give a wider perspective. They have a wide range of inclusive and fun activities each week and helped everyone get to virtually meet in a friendly environment.

I really enjoyed the experience. In the toughest of scenarios it was great to get the opportunity to experience work at Centrica. Although tough at times Centrica was great at accommodating those new to virtual working. I always felt I could message someone and they'd be friendly and helpful and I believe it worked really well. It be great to go in to work but this was no worse.

Yes

Learn and read about the work the company does before applying. Prepare well for the interviews and learn in detail about some of the engineering principles required for working within the energy providing, trading and services industry. Make sure you ask lots of questions at the interview and speak to the graduates there as much as possible. In the technical interview don't worry about if you don't know something, just be honest.