Industrial Placement 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

2.3/5
  • The Role
    1.8
  • The Company
    1.8
  • The Culture
    3.6

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
  • There's lots of interesting work going on; and it was interesting to get an insight into various research areas within defence and be privy to things the wider public don't get to see. However, my main problem was that for the majority of the time I simply wasn't busy enough. I ended up working with another team for 3 months - I went on a couple of trials, which I really enjoyed, and felt I was able to contribute. It's a good place to work - provided you have work to do.

    2/5

  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
  • Everyone I met was very friendly and willing to answer my questions - however I felt for most of the year it was a chore for everyone else to find me work to do. My team sat on a different floor to me, due to the classification of some of the work they do, so unless I contacted them I tended to be forgotten about.

    2/5

  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
  • There was no plan for what I'd be doing when I arrived, and one never really got made. Although my team leader was always happy to meet and explain why he didn't really have any work for me, it rarely seemed to result in something to do. Eventually I was able to get more work with another team - but that took 6 months.

    2/5

  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
  • There wasn't a plan for what my role would be over the year and I ended up having to pester my TL for work, with mixed results. My team was very busy - so busy in fact, that no one had the time to train me how to do the technical work. I did odds and ends of busywork and admin - spending a couple of months stamping and counting documents for archiving - and spent most of the rest of my time twiddling my thumbs. The exception was the month or so I spent on trial, which involved very long days but which I really enjoyed.

    1/5

  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
  • During the trial I was one of two operators of a piece of equipment integral to the trial operation. The equipment was new to everyone, so I had to rapidly understand how it worked and be able to find solutions when it (very often) stopped working - this was a great experience. The rest of the time - no responsibility.

    2/5

  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
  • I don't think anything will aid me in my degree - I didn't learn any relevant new skills. That said, there's plenty I can talk about on my CV/ at interview - working as part of a team, taking instruction and being able to communicate effectively your solution to a problem are all useful skills.

    2/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
  • It was a relaxed and friendly atmosphere - people were happy to help me out if I asked and it never felt too highly pressured. I sat on a large open plan floor plate, which was quite quiet - although I knew the names of everyone around me, we didn't chat much.

    3/5

  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
  • As far as my team was concerned - awful. I was a loose end for 8 of the 12 months. As far as HR was concerned - mixed. I heard nothing from them for months after my interview, but when my offer was eventually confirmed they set up a facebook group for all the new grads and placement students, which made sorting out houses a lot easier.

    2/5

  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
  • I went on an inter-organisational conference between Dstl and AWE which was good fun, plus a couple of technical talks. That's it really. It wasn't really worth spending money on me, since I wasn't doing much work.

    1/5

  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
  • Flexi Time

    Subsidised Canteen

    Sports and Social Club

    Subsidised/Company Gym

    National Travel

    Staff Sales/Staff Shop

    3/5

  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
  • They'd be keen to have me back, so I'll apply since it's good thing to have a guaranteed job before I start applying for graduate schemes. But there's a lot of places I'd prefer to work (I'm looking to be based in London) so it would be a fall-back, not an aspiration.

    2/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
  • There were a group of about 20 grads/students I socialised with - all the students lived in in houses of three which was great. I'll keep in touch with my house mates and a couple of the grads, as I've made some good friends.

    5/5

  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
  • Rent was £85 each a week, drink prices fairly standard. We only lived 10 minutes drive from both Salisbury and work, so fuel wasn't a problem - I used my bike a lot. I was on just under £16,000 a year and was perfectly comfortable - even managed to save a bit of money - though I did house-share.

    3/5

  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
  • Considering Salisbury's a smallish, family-orientated, fairly prosperous non-university town - it's alright. Lots of good pubs, a few bars (both with and without dance floors) and one actual club. Have had lots of good nights out, but as always - depends who you go with.

    4/5

  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
  • I played football with some of the guys from work on a regular basis. There's lots of stuff going on in Salisbury (gyms, various clubs/activites) - for most of year I played saxophone in a local concert band. There's also a few clubs at work, like a choir and running club.

    4/5

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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

Business Operations, Science

South West

August 2015


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