2013 IT Business Internship Review

I really enjoyed my time at Siemens, gaining exposure to a variety of IT topics and experience in various skills relevant to any future career. My team were welcoming and always approachable when seeking support for my day-to-day activities. As a company Siemens has great international standing and ethos in the work they conduct and it really showed during my year with them. Would definetly look to work with Siemens during my final year or upon graduation.

Recognition was always given to good work, and guidance was always given in a constructive manner when required. Significant effort was made to further my own understanding of the company and the technology we were dealing with. Acknowledgement of the work I completed has been positive with the impression that it will benefit the team and continue to be used when my time is complete at Siemens.

Support from management was excellent. Upon joining, weekly 'catch up' sessions were created as to provide me a dedicated slot every week in which I could reflect my ongoing activities or thoughts with my Line Manager. In addition, monthly one-to-one's with both my Line Manager and Head Of Interns/Graduates provided further support as and when needed. Outside of dedicated meetings, my Line Manager and team were always approachable to answer my questions regardless of the content or simplicity.

Regular one-to-one's allowed me to discuss my current workload to achieve the correct balance so I never felt over/under worked. If I ever felt I didn't have enough on, there was always a new topic to get started on as and when required. Siemens gave me a level of independance and freedom to work at a suitable pace but I always had something to be working on. There were obvious time constraints on some pieces of work, but they never felt unreasonable or unachieveable considering the level of work required.

Some apsects of the placement required high levels of responsibility and independance. Such as certain information security topics, and running small research and development projects. After being given the initial objective of a task, I was given the responsibility of developing it through various milestones whilst being solely responsibile for the quality of any end deliverables.

Siemens definetly furthered my own IT skills and understanding. I learnt a great deal about current technology as well as the future market for information technology. My placement provided opportunities to work with topics where I previously had little or no knowledge in before to the extent where they are now topics I look to. Experiencing how a multinational company operates in respect to IT was invaluable and extremely beneficial to my future career.

Really welcoming atmosphere within the office. The working environment was always healthy and enjoyable, with absolutely no one who was unapproachable or unhelpful. It was also complete with all the standard kitchen, coffee machine etc. needed to make the work environment as comfortable as possible.

A really well run intern initiative, with regular one-to-one's created to reflect general activities and thoughts. There were also an intern event held in a different Siemens site across the country, which allowed the opportunity to develop relationships with other interns across the country.

Aside from the obvious investement in educating me in the company operations and ethos, as well as the IT estate. An intern event was created to allow us to meet others, as well as provide a perspective on future employement within Siemens. In addition various educational materials were provided where deemed relevant to my studies and work activities. They also provide various final year projects for students, and are also open to the opportunity for a project to be completed with them.

There is a well established graduate scheme which given the opportunity would be a valuable experience. My experience here would give me a good starting point for any future career in Siemens, of which I would be interested in pursuing.

The interns and graduates in the department setup regular socials outside of work. My team also had social events outside of regular working hours.

The Bournemouth area is reasonably priced and has one of the better night lifes in the country. There is also a variety of housing available for single/group students at a range of prices and standards, which are close to Siemens Poole. The public transport is also very good, with several bus links across the county, as well as a train station within 5 minutes drive from the offiice. With the beach being close there is also some attractive coastal environement which is an excellent scene for socialising.

The Bournemouth area has one of the better night lifes in the UK. There are a variety of pubs and clubs in close proximity, providing plenty of options for life outside of work. The beach also has several additional locations for some exciting night life in the summer.

The previously mentioned socials organised by the interns/graduates and my team allowed some great socialising activities outside of work, with colleagues you work with. The night life of Bournemouth also allows various opportunities for entertainment outside of work. There is also various sporting activities and fund raisers close to Poole for all possible interests.