Structures Intern, Combat Air, Military Air and Information Review

I thouroughly enjoyed my placement at BAE Systems. I would recommend the placement to others and I have benefitted greatly from the experience.

The team I worked with were fantastic, making me feel very welcome and I was respected and valued. Everyone at BAE Systems has been friendly and happy to help. There is a lovely working environment within the company.

My supervisors were fantastic at supporting me through and keeping me on track, with a suitable amount of work to complete. The only slight issue I had was the communication from higher levels being passed to the wrong manager. A system or email list hadn't been kept up to date.

I was relatively busy but did have to be proactive in asking for work and letting my supervisors know in advance when I was coming to the end of the task. This meant they then had time to arrange work for me to do after the other task was completed.

I was given a good level of responsibility but with the appropriate level of support. I was given ownership of jobs and reports but due to the nature of the work, everything was checked upon completion. This was not because I was an intern, but that this is standard practice for the department.

I know the skills and experience at BAE Systems will help me greatly in my final year of university and also when coming to applying for graduate jobs. This experience is something that university could never provide and I am so pleased I took this opportunity at BAE Systems.

The atmosphere was very pleasant in the office I was working in. It was a very productice environment but not too quiet. The office was very friendly and celebrated birthdays and events, there was a good team spirit in the office!

The placement was very well organised and all the interns were very well supported throughout the process.

The company is very good at encouraging development and lets you influence your future within the company. You are encouraged to express what you enjoy and don't enjoy and to say where you would like aim for within the firm. The company was very supportive of you arranging tours and visits around the facilities on the site and wanted you to maximise your time at the company on your placement.

I fully intend to apply for the graduate scheme and would like to work for BAE Systems upon graduation. If you do well enough in your placement there is the opportunity to skip parts of the application process for the graduate scheme.

There were a very good core of placement students living in the same accomodation who organised social events. There were also a number of events in the office from playing football after work, to nights out locally.

The cost of halls of residence in Preston was equivalent to around £400 a month.

As I way away most weekends, I didn't take advantage of the nightlife so don't really know how good it was.

There were opportunities to get involved with football after work and also the activities the interns organised like going to a local climbing wall, bowling, going for meals out, going to the cinema, movie nights etc.