SUMMER PLACEMENT STUDENT Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at DSTL. It was a great experience of learning about science and technology, global affairs and the working life. The majority of people I came into contact with were friendly and the work I was involved in was very engaging. I would definitely consider applying for a position at the company in the future.

I feel the majority of my colleagues valued me in a similar manner to full time employees. My opinion was respected and any suggestion I had was taken with full consideration. Although I must stress that there is a distinct minority whom I felt treated me as inferior due to the clearly defined hierarchical structure. However it is often extremely difficult to gauge how high up someone is in the organisation due to general openness.

In the first few weeks of the internship my line manager arranged a few meetings to discuss what was expected of me as well as any aims that I had for the internship. Whether there were any specific skills I wanted to build or practice on. Regular meetings with project managers were also arranged to ensure quality of work and making sure I was on the right track.

The first few days are very slow due to having to do training and reading up before you are thrown onto a project. Beyond that I always had something to be working on. Most of the time there was no rush in any outputs. Although there are times when quick returns are expected which can be quite pressured.

I can’t say I was given much responsibility during my time, I was more tasked with pieces of work which is understandable as there isn’t much responsibility you can get over 12 weeks. However I was allowed to complete tasks in whichever method/way I thought would work the best. Therefore it wasn’t so much a ‘do this, in this way’ it was more along the lines of ‘we need something that explains this’ and then I would go away think about how to best deliver that and ask around if it was a good idea or not.

Personally I don’t believe a lot of what I have done during my time on my internship can be directly used in assisting my degree studies. Although there are good practices which will be of use. Using different Models will help me to be able to pick things up more easily. Having to communicate and rely on others will aid in team work. A good understanding of a working environment will also help me in the future.

There was a friendly atmosphere in the office. As a new starter lots of people made themselves identifiable to me as someone who could help me or give me any guidance which was nice. Generally people are talkative and nice, saying good morning in the morning, holding doors open. There is a general positive vibe.

They are clearly used to doing this as everything is arranged in a very organised manner. Most things are set rolling before you even arrive. I received a few emails directly from my line manager before I had even started my placement. Work had already been arranged for me to be getting on with. Although it is not entirely planned out and there is room for flexibility allowing you to work on things you would like to.

There are a few initial training procedures every new starter must go through. Beyond that I would say there was too much personal training and development aimed specifically at me understandably so. In such a short amount of time I believe this is quite unreachable to some extent. There are lots of mandatory training procedures that must be completed.

The company seems to employ a lot of graduates therefore I assume there is a good chance for future employment from my perspective.

There was an extremely good social scene amongst the fellow students, there were many social events arranged examples include, going for dinner, mini golf, clubbing. Moreover there was the weekly Pub quiz which is quite a hit. Many of the students arranged to live together and therefore everybody knew everybody else. There was also a weekly work football 5 a side which was always fun.

I stayed in Portsmouth. The cost of living there is around average/slightly below average. The cost of socialising was also fairly average to me, there are a few places which offer good student discounts and there are many affordable activities to take part in. With Portsmouth being quite a dense city there was always something close by to do.

In relation to work there is not much in the surrounding area. However in Portsmouth where I lived there were lots of pubs/bars in the local vicinity which were not really to my taste however they have good reviews from other people I have talked to whom have gone to them.

There were loads of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work time. If you wanted you could do something every day of the week. Whether that be sport, something brainy, or lounging with a few mates. There was always something going on that you could take part in.