IST IT&S Review

It was an awesome experience from day one. We had so much fun learning from the best that there is. I enjoyed talking to them, going out on lunches and event out door event. I attended Olympic events with my colleagues, was invited to birthdays and dinners by my team and enjoyed London style night outs with fellow interns. Couldn’t have been better.

I was often complemented on my work by my senior colleagues. Comments like “you are a rocket scientist!”, “I’m impressed!!”, “good work!” and the one time “you are a valuable asset to the company!” are what I got from my team. I know, I’m the most junior member and they are well beyond me in terms of knowledge and experience, but getting constant valuable feedback and encouragement has been incredible.

I can say there was no occasion when I felt I had no one to go to for support and guidance. From my manager, to centrally assigned mentor and buddy to Graduate team. Each provided a different layer of support to make this an ultra-amazing experience. My manager provided constant guidance on areas of improvement. From technical knowledge to soft skills to project management. She would often stop by my desk as she was walking with a more senior manager or even an executive to introduce me to them! My mentor was key to introducing me to all the areas of the business and setting my overall ambition and career plan. He would find out what I was up to every few weeks and give me a hint on where else I could look into. My buddy is the most amazing person. She organised meeting with people working on various projects, top business analysts, and gave me an overall insight into what it is like to grow within BP.

It varies. There are days when I have had to have lunch on my desk while I reviewed thing and days when I was a lot more relaxed. Every day is different and very exciting. But at BP it’s all about work life balance. We, at the IST work 5 days a week, standard hours whereas if you are in a more technical role at Sunbury might have the luxury of flexi Fridays.

Enormous amount! That’s enormously good! I could not believe how much I was trusted with the work that needed so much attention and skill. This had a huge effect on my overall experience as I knew immediately I wasn’t just there to play around but had some serious challenge to overcome. One of the core BP values is courage and a couple of weeks into working for BP one could easily realise why. I took every opportunity to put myself forward and grow.

At BP, we are referred to as Class of 2012. Everyone at BP, is trained and the culture here is to share knowledge and act with the One Team attitude. In these three months I have learnt more than I could have possibly hoped for at the start. That’s on every level.

From watching Olympic boats cruise by, to sharing a BBC News article to bidding for BP Olympic tickets. It’s everything but dull.

Central Graduate Resourcing or simply, Central was responsible for organising the entire internship. From our accommodation in South Kensington to our assigned mentors and buddies to training days. Everything was spot on.

BP employees working on projects are required to have a large array of side skills in addition to their core, technical skills. Three was trading provided on almost everything. From trading and business functions to IT.

We get fast tracked to the final assessment centre. The outcome is decided after that.

There indeed was. The interns had pub Wednesdays and night outs on Friday. My team was quite social as well and we went out to the Shard’s opening and a few Olympic events. A birthday and dinners.

It's high end London in Olympics. So understandably; it isn’t cheap. But we are well paid and looked after.

1 word. LondON! :)

People at BP are simply amazing; one of my colleagues is working towards his Private Pilot License. Another is organising a London cycling event. There is so much to do at BP that makes you wonder: do people ever switch off?! And that they do, there is classical music fans and free entry to National Gallery for us. Also our partnership with the Royal Opera House gave us the chance to the most amazing things this summer.