Insight Day Review

I found the insight day to be very enjoyable, the staff and students present were very friendly and easily approachable. All staff were very informative and had a wealth of knowledge about the company. Despite this, it would have been better if one of the graduates were from the engineering sector as I was keen to find out more about the job role and what it involved. I would have also liked to have been made aware of the current engineering projects they do so I can better consider the kind of graduate programs I would like to apply for.

I felt as though the staff tried hard to make us all feel welcome and they wanted to give us a good impression of the company. This was shown through their efforts to provide refreshments, prizes to reward efforts and even help towards travelling expenses. All of which made me feel as though they genuinely wanted me to consider working for Centrica in the future.

There was plenty of guidance and support throughout the day. Staff gave us a tour of the whole site including the offices and told us about plans they had made for the future. The staff also set up a workshop to show us the kind of attributes they look for in their employees and gave us tips on how to make a successful application. They also informed us of the many different roles Centrica have to offer within the business.

I felt as though the skills workshop for applications will help me a lot in the future as tackling an application form can sometimes be quite tough, especially with the many varieties of tests you are expected to endure in order to gain an interview. Also much of the information I have learned in the energy trilemma talk will help support me through my thermodynamics module.

The insight was fairly well structured, although the timetable was frequently overlapped due to some of the talks lasting longer than predicted. I felt as though more time was needed for network building and getting to know other candidates. I also felt that the tour was slightly rushed, but the team building exercise was highly enjoyable and plenty of time was given to that aspect of the day.

The general atmosphere was very positive, the graduates were very enthusiastic and seemed to be enjoying their work within the business. All of the candidates were very keen to ask questions and were willing to participate in all of the activities provided. It was nice to get to know other candidates doing different courses from different universities and what their plans for the futures were. As Centrica is such a big company, there is a vast amount of sectors that graduates may go into so there are candidates doing a variety of courses.

As this was only a brief 5 hour session, there was not a great deal of time for development. However, they did invest some time into providing us with the necessary skills to complete a successful application and gave us advice on how to be the most likely candidate to be selected for an interview.

I did not complete the insight day having gained a great deal of knowledge about the job in question. As I have stated previously, there wasn't an opportunity to speak to an engineer, so I did not learn anything new about the job role itself. They also did not explain what kind of working hours there would be and how intensive the job actually is; although they did stress that a career with Centrica does carry a heavy responsibility and that they always do what is best for their customers.

Throughout the day, the staff made an effort to explain the companies core values and spoke about a 'green agenda'. With Centrica being an energy company, it is within their interests to make the world a greener place and so they offer their staff incentives to become greener such as giving them vouchers for riding their bikes to work. They also try to promote healthy living and eating, through subsidized gym memberships and healthy food in the canteen.

I would say very important. As an aspiring engineer, there is a wealth of opportunities and industries to go into and so coming to insight days such as this one, is very important in helping me decide what kind of career path I wish to follow. By giving us an idea of what it is like to work for Centrica and what their core values are, I feel more confident that applying to work for Centrica would be a good idea.

They reimburse up to £50 for travel expenses.

Yes, there was an opportunity before, during and after the insight day to talk to graduates and other candidates that may be applying for a graduate role with Centrica.

Overall, I was impressed. The graduates each took 5 minutes to introduce themselves and explain what their job role was within the business, so during the lunch hour I knew who to speak to and what questions I wanted to ask.

Yes, they told us that they organize many social events after work; that there are many opportunities to do physical activities and that they host a range of courses for personal development.

Yes.