Team Member 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
4.0
-
The Company
3.9
-
The Culture
3.5
- 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
I found it very enjoyable, it has been great at teaching me so much from an academic and personal stand-point
I felt like my colleagues wanted my opinion on the work I was doing and how I felt I could improve it
My manager was extremely helpful, always willing to talk if I had something to say, and was very good in helping me to view some areas of work more related to my degree
Most days I had a the right amount of work that I wasn't bored but equally wasn't stressed trying to complete everything. However there were some moments where the workload was a bit light, but I think this can be expected from any job
Once I had got used to the working environment (about 2 months) I was the sole contributor to some projects, which I think for someone who hasn't worked at the company before is a lot of responsibility. Although I did have regualr meetings with a colleague to keep up-to-date with the work I was completing
The academic knowledge I learnt (though interesting) wasn't really applicable to my degree. I did learn how to code in Matlab which was a new skill for me, which has helped me a lot at university and is something I value a lot
The Company
Really great! Everyone got a lot of work done, but at the same time it wasn't too serious and people were happy to have quick chats as a bit of a break
The beginning few weeks are quite slow, the IT isn't set up so you can't start work straight away and there's a lot of reading and security to do before you can start
I had the basic training that was required (mostly health and safety based), but as a student I did not then get any other development opportunities, I think anyone joining as a graduate gets much greater amounts of training past what they need to do
Flexi Time
Subsidised/Company Gym
National Travel
Above 25 days holiday
Working from home
The Culture
Yes, there are always a lot of students employed at Dstl, particuarly over the summer. We quite often went out for pub lunches on Friday and out into London a few times on the weekend
The cost was quite high as we were only a 20 minute train ride outside of London, which meant rent was high and a pint was around £5 (minimum)
The nightlife in the area I lived was very poor, I think there was one small pub. But if you're willing to catch a bus and a quick train you can get into London, which is great to go out in, apart from the difficulties in getting home past midnight
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Engineering
South East
August 2015
