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It was one of the better private insight events that I have attended. The people that I met during the day seemed both friendly and genuinely enthusiastic about what they did. I must say that my favourite part of the event was the interview coaching, as I feel that this vastly helped improve my interview technique.

As the group size of the Discovery Day was approximately 20, I felt that we were all equally treated. The group size was large enough to be interesting and personal, but not quite so large as to be intimidating. Although I do feel that some of the speakers during the day weren't entirely open and friendly (which is why I am rating this at 8), I assume that they were new to the programme and I can fully empathise with the nervousness associated with public speaking.

The last third of the event was a dedicated interview coaching session taken in groups of three with a BP employee. I felt like this was the most valuable part of the experience. My coach was one of the friendliest people I've met, and seemed genuinely interested in teaching us how to succeed at interviews.

I feel that the interview techniques taught to us during the coaching (STARS, use of first person, assertiveness etc) will be of invaluable use in the near future as I plan on applying for technical intern ships during the summer of 2016. This is because the interview techniques were specifically targeted at answering the technical questions that large companies are likely to ask their prospective interns.

The schedule was casual enough to be relaxing, but intensive enough to ensure that we were always taking part in some sort of event, whether it be tours, networking or coaching. However there were a couple of times during the event that felt a bit much like pointless downtime, but most of the other attendees used this time to get to know each other.

Friendly and ambitious would be the two words that I would use to describe the mood of the event. All of the attendees were open and friendly, as were the BP staff. The man who came to lecture us about the problem solving history of BP that he was personally involved with (my apologies for not remembering his name, although I do remember him mentioning that he went to Exeter University) was one of the most genuine and ambitious people that I've met. His enthusiasm for his work set the positive mood for the rest of the event.

As it was only a single day event, I feel satisfied with the volume personal training we received during the event. What I appreciated the most, however, was that the training we did receive was not solely targeted at landing a job with BP; they taught us how to compose ourselves (assertive/friendly body language) and how to deal ourselves with any sort of broad technical question.

The day was focused more broadly on what the company's aims were, what their facilities were like (which were by no stretch of the imagination, amazing) and what sort of projects they undertook. So I cannot say that I fully learnt what it would be like to have a full time job working for BP.

Quite well. Throughout the day there was an emphasis on safety (always holding on to the hand rail when going up stairs), but generally the company culture seemed to be based upon cultivating progression and innovation. What surprised me though was the amount of care and interest each employee received, which is not what I would have expected from a supermajor oil company.

I feel entirely certain that I will at the very least make an application to work at BP once I have completed my masters degree. The company buildings were state of the art, the atmosphere friendly and the staff enthusiastic. Comparing the staff to those of other, smaller companies who were not quite so friendly nor seemingly invested in their work has helped me to make this decision.

All travel costs were reimbursed by BP, and food and refreshments were provided during the day.

There was a large networking lunch organised for us, during which I got to speak with several previous BP interns, as well as one current intern. While they were perhaps slightly less enthusiastic than the other staff, they all sounded very pleased with the work they had the opportunity to do. All of them recommended making an application to work for BP.

As I mentioned in the previous comment, the networking events were quite informative. I feel that they could have been improved by having a few more staff members to converse with, as there were slightly too many attendees for us all to have a meaningful conversations the entire time. This resulted in some of us just talking amongst ourselves for a portion of the event. Food and drink were provided, which were very nice.

Not quite so much. A previous BP intern mentioned offhand that the interns all organised for themselves football matches, nights out etc. There wasn't a heavy emphasis on life outside of work for the staff, but as this was only a single day, you can only fit in so much information.

Without a doubt. Seeing the sort of projects undertaken by BP and the calibre of the employees would be a worthwhile experience for any person studying for a similar degree to myself. Other than recommending this day purely for the academic perspective, it was a lot of fun and I made plenty of friends. I have already recommended this experience to the year 1 Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵs that I am mentoring this year.