Hydrogeologist Summer Student Review

I enjoyed the work at Atkins, it was a great chance to do some work before undertaking a MSc, which a graduate position in the industry across the board requires. Therefore a unique opportunity to gain some experience (otherwise it is fairly difficult to get industry experience, without already having done the MSc and having some experience).

My colleagues were, great. Being friendly and chatting to me - making sure that I meet various people and inviting me along to events/social occasions. They tried to make sure the work I was doing was interesting and varied, and for any of the more onerous work, did make that clear at the start that it was.

There was always someone who would be quick to explain any queries I had about the administration aspects, IT, HR aspects of working for Atkins. This was very useful, and management would often check back with me to make sure the earlier issues had been resolved. My supervisors where always happy to take time to make sure I understood what was required for each piece of work.

I was able to fill almost all of the time with work, however perhaps the only aspect of the internship that could be improved - would have been that I often in the first few weeks was completing shorter tasks and having to individual find more work, rather than having work in place for the coming days.

Being able to query an issues with people I was completing work for meant that I was often able to undertake work with more responsibility. I also undertook originating a specification for a ground investigation, this was very useful by making decisions and drafting a document for review by a supervisor.

Placement was for students having completed an undergraduate degree about to start a relevant postgraduate degree, gaining an appreciation of the work done in the field I shall be studying next year is something I found very motivational for my coming year of studies. Additionally I have experience of the various field procedures undertaken to collect the data, how this needs to be processed and how this is then used in models, and other analysis.

The atmosphere in the office was ideal. It was an open - environment with people often chatting both in relation to work as well as socially. The staff demographic was also fairly young and all very supportive and happy to help. I was also introduced to everyone, including in other teams working in different disciplines.

The internship seemed a bit unplanned - with a fairly late advert for the placement, this did have the benefit of a quick application and interview process, but did mean that IT facilities and the workload where a bit hit and miss in the first few weeks. However these issues were resolved and things became more reliable in the second half.

The company spent a couple of hours a week in some form of training, most in direct relevance to the work I was undertaking, but several additional pieces that were intended to give me a wder general understanding of the discipline, and was useful.

Future employment within the organisation is appealing. I have had lots of opportunity to chat with graduates working for Atkins, due in part to the young make-up of the staff in the office. As such I feel like I understand well what is involved in a graduate development programme at Atkins and would be keen to work either within the team I was placed with in the internship or the 'clean' hydrogeology counterparts.

Yes there was a good social scene within the office, and outside of the office we did go for drinks sometimes after work on a Friday.

While Epsom ( where the office was based) itself is probably more affordable, I was living in London which is rather expensive, and on top of this I was commuting out to Epsom which costs about £200 a month this travel expense unfortunately was not covered by Atkins, as part of the placement, and as such just came out of my effective salary.

I was living in London not Epsom so can't really comment. Though of course nightlife in London is good.

Nothing much came up during the internship, however I would assume that given a longer placement I would have had opportunity to get involved in activities outside of the work.