Lethality and Warheads intern Review

The work was enjoyable, and the content of it and the people I worked with were very interesting.

As a member of a smaller department, there was a much closer working relationship. It was friendly, and although mostly professional, there were a few out of work occasions together. Definitely no hostility.

I was set off on day one straight into it. This was pretty intense, and my supervisor was out of the office a lot in meetings. However, I soon adapted to this, and also ended up doing some work that was in an area that no-one else was familiar with anyway. To this end, I was given the support I needed, if not the advice.

Varied on deadlines, but generally I was always occupied, and could always alleviate my workload or take on workload from other members.

I was initially supervised, but upon discovering an element of competency, I was actually given my own tasking, and completely free reign over how to achieve it!

I learnt loads of new software skills, attended meetings, gave presentations, and generally found out a lot about industrial applications of the sciences, that would otherwise have been completely unknown to me.

Due to the mixed departments and generally secretive nature of the work, as well as the fact that I was there over holiday season, the office was rather subdued. There were a few characters, and also a couple of office furniture manoeuvres. But my personal highlight was a visit from health and safety which ended as a bit of a farce, but resulted in my cupboard being moved across the office for no particularly good reason.

Due to the scale of my department, and the fact that I was the only intern, there was not much time set aside deliberately for tasks specific to myself. I was ok, mostly because I ended up being given an open ended task, after I proved my initial competence. Other departments with multiple interns most definitely had a program to follow and a direct set of aims and objectives. However, I personally feel this lack of structure allowed me to more naturally find my place in the team.

I was able to attend courses during my time at MBDA, however my arrival was poorly timed, and I missed the opportunity to go testing. That would have been fun. I felt that my manager would have happily signed me off to go on any courses I would have chosen to do, however, due to the limited time I had, and due to it being over the summer, there were fewer courses running.

Although I impressed in my internship, the department I was working in was very small and had no vacancies. I have been told that should I apply to any department in the company however, this record will be tied to my application, and the company looks very favourably on those with previous experience there when recruiting.

Amongst the fellow placements, yes, once I managed to find them. Amongst my co-workers, no, though this was mostly due to the vastly differing ages and interests of them. Also, very few people lived locally, meaning that any socialising would have to occur through the on site socials groups, of which there were many, although obviously I didn't join due to my brief attendance.

In terms of shopping, there are plenty of superstores and local shops with reasonable prices (for the South). Rent was about £350+ pcm, but there was a glut of accommodation in the area.

Stevenage is relatively reasonable, but there isn't much to do on a night out (Poor nightlife). Other recreational activities were limited, although we did get a work discount at the local pool!

Yes, quite a few, I mostly found these out through the gym, definitely join! It's a cheap addition to your stay, and the staff are very informative and helpful, and a lot of out of work conversation with my co-workers happened in the gym. There is a dedicated socials stand in the atrium, and every club/society you could imagine is supported.