Year In Industry Student Review
by Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
3.7
-
The Company
4.0
-
The Culture
1.8
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
This varied depending on the work I was given. A lot of the work that I was given wasn´t mentally chalenging although the project I was given was challenging, it didn´t take up enough of my time. I also had a brilliant time taking part in trials
As we didn´t often have team meetings I often didn´t feel part of the team as I sat in a different part of the office and was a different age demographic to the rest of my team however my team leader did work hard to make me feel welcomed.
Very little support was given by my mentor. All the support was gained from a part time colleague.
This also varied with the amount of work. Some days I was very busy and others I had little to do. Having a flexi time contract meant that this wasn´t a problem.
Working on my own project gave me responsiblity in ensuring that it was all completed correctly.
Although only very few skills I gained will directly help my degree subject, I have gained a lot of other skills both in communication and other handy skills (some work required me to learnt how to use a drill which is a useful lifeskill) that will definitely be useful in my life
The Company
The atmosphere in my ofice was usually cheerful and positive which made a friendly working envronment.
This was well organised as there were a large number of us at Dstl there was a lot of organisation into our enrolement
. There was a high amount of investment into my personal development as members of staff took the time to teach me new skills and I was also allowed to attend academic conferences and training days.
Flexi Time
Sports and Social Club
Staff Sales/Staff Shop
Above 25 days holiday
I wouldn´t want to work with them for my career mainly because I don´t want a career in defence and the work they do won´t be related to my degree.
The Culture
Although there were other students that socialised together the transport in salisbury made it difficult to attend events such as pub quizzes( there were no l ate busses)
without a car socialising and travelling around is very expensive as there are very poor transport links.
Few students, lack of nightlife ´vibe´. Salisbury was relatively empty and there wasn´t a choice of locations.
There are many opportunities to get involved in other activities. Provided you have a car. :) (lack of sunday busses and evening busses)
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
South West
August 2013
