RDD Intern Review

I very much enjoyed working at Dyson for a year. I feel like the internship experience is very similiar to that of a graduate joining the company- you are given a great deal of responsibility and immediately work on live projects.

The team that I was working with all valued my input with as much consideration as if it was from a design engineer. The working dynamic is great; there is a level playing field approach, and at no point did I feel like 'just an intern'.

My manager was very good at listening to my concerns/ ideas for direction moving forward. If I needed assistance with a task he was readily at hand and willing to help, and a number of formal and informal reviews were held throughout the year to help me benchmark my performance and progress.

As the work was dependent upon projects, my workload fluctuated. There was never a point when I didn't have anything to do, and I stayed with enough tasks to occupy my time for almost the whole of my placement. Towards the end the workload waned slightly, so I did have to go out of my own way to find work to occupy the spare time.

A great deal of responsibility, both in making decisions, interacting with the leadershop team, and the nature of my work. Whilst at Dyson I had some of my parts go into production- I was given free reign to design and prove their worth, and as such they were added to the product. There is no underlying feeling that you are pushed to the side at all. At times, I was able to critique the work of those more senior to me. This is not to toot my own horn, but just to show the level of trust and responsibility you are given.

The skills that I developed will be incredibly useful in all stages of my degree. The iterative approach to development will aide me in creating (I hope!) a more thorough, well thought out final year project, and the knowledge that I have gained over several specialist technical areas will assist me with design work for years to come. Working as part of a team dynamic has helped me with my social skills, and to share work to reach a team goal. On top of that there were several hands on skills I developed whilst at Dyson- I recieved comprehensive external Mill and Lathe training, to allow me to utilise the prototyping facilities safely and to the best of my ability.

The atmosphere in the office is fairly relaxed- employees are encouraged to take breaks when needed, and complimentary tea and coffee are provided at all hours of the day to facilitate this. Everyone works hard, but the atmosphere is very friendly, making it very easy to approach people for assistance or information.

As it was the first year that Dyson has had placements, there were a few elements that were fairly unorganised- we had a home trial that we were told to use and criticise, but our thoughts were never fed back and the machines were simply returned. Similiarly, there was a final poster presentation that was fairly unorganised in terms of structure. That being said I'm sure this will only improve!

The company invested a great deal in me, providing constant feedback and a series of internal and external courses to develop my knowledge and skills.

Future employment prospects are very appealing.

There was a very good social scene amongst both placement students and colleagues. Whilst at Dyson I got heavily involved in a number of sporting clubs, which were great for socialising with people from all over the business.

The cost of living was very good, and although the socialising wasn't great, very nice places are nearby and an easy commute on the train. (I lived in Chippenham)

The nightlife were I was living was almost non-existant, but Bristol and Bath are both close by, and have a whole slew of clubs, live music and entertainment.

Very much so. There are a number of sports clubs that meet up after hours. I became involved with the Dyson Mountain Bike Club, which provided endless hours of fun!