
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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About You
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The Company
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Everything Else
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy the insight?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued during your time at the company or firm?
- 3. How much guidance/support did you receive during the insight?
- 4. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and information you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 5. How well structured was the insight?
- 6. How was the general atmosphere during your insight?
- 7. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 8. To what extent did the insight help you to understand what it would be like to have a full time role with the company or firm?
- 9. How much did the insight help you in understanding the company culture?
- 10. How valuable was the content in helping you to decide on your future career path?
- 11. Were you paid or reimbursed adequately for this experience?
- 12. Were there opportunities for networking and meeting other employees of the company or firm?
- 13. How were the networking/ social event opportunities?
- 14. Did you find out about activities that employees can get involved in outside of work?
- 15. Would you recommend this insight to a friend?
About You
The staff at BP is very cheerful. The day included a trading game, which was very engaging and exciting. The talk before the game was very informative but lacked engagement from candidates. The food was delicious and well presented. However, for those with allergies/dietary requirements, there was an absence of clear labels.
Every question asked was answered, in a very professional and kind manner. The staff at BP were willing to provide lots of information about their job and life at BP. There was a strong sense of gender equality. The work produced by interns is highly valued and is continued by other members of the team, at the end of the duration of the internship, as told by the summer interns at BP.
Help was available at every stage. There were structured talks full of information, with a chance to ask questions in the end. There was also a chance to interact with the current summer interns to find further guidance about different roles. Senior members of the staff were also present to ask questions related to BP and the business in the industry as a whole.
I developed good networking skills from the event, which will help me progress in my career. I also learnt about the different roles at BP as well as what its like working at BP, within each role. This made me more inclined to apply to summer internships and graduate roles at BP. The trading experience was very helpful in understanding what real life trading is like and whether its suited to you.
The Company
The whole event was very organised. At every point in time, candidates knew what was going on. There was a talk by the event organiser at the beginning laying out the events of the day and answering any questions. The networking session was organised so that the candidates were split into groups of 4-5 and each summer intern had about 5 minutes interaction time with each group. The trading game followed clear instructions on what to do and candidates were split into groups of 2-3. Overall, each event of the day was well-planned.
The general atmosphere was very calm and laid back, especially as it was casual Friday for the staff. This made it very easy to ask them questions and interact with them. However, it was extremely professional at the same time. The candidates that attended the event also came from strong educational backgrounds. However, it was not a negatively competitive environment and everyone was friendly.
Exposure to qualified, trained professionals was provided within the one day Discovery day. This was highly valued in the lecture style presentation about trading, where very crucial information about trading was handed to candidates. All the staff present that day invested their full time and attention towards helping the Î÷¹ÏÊÓÆµs in every way possible.
It was made very clear how a typical day for an intern looks like. The summer interns themselves spoke about it and this was done by a number of summer interns, working in different teams, within IST. This was followed by senior members of the staff highlighting this aspect, including some that had been at BP for over 12 years.
Generally, the culture of any company can be seen through their employees. The staff at BP was very cheerful and willing to help. Secondly, they re-iterated the calm yet professional environment at the offices. However, we were told that it does depend on different teams too, as well as the time of the year and the levels of stress due to that.
I went from having BP as an option, to now wanting a career at BP. The major contributory factor was understanding the content of the work and the oil and gas industry is a very appealing industry to get into. The working hours and manageable and there are many activities to get involved in, while working at BP.
Everything Else
I did not need to be reimbursed as I travelled locally. The event was held at BP's headquarters in Canary Wharf. Some candidates travelled from far away locations to attend the event. However, I am not sure if they were reimbursed or not. Since, it was an insight day, there was not a need to be paid as we got information and did not produce any work for BP.
There were opportunities given to interact with the permanent staff and the summer interns. In total, there were 5 summer interns to interact with and ask questions and 4 senior members of staff. There was a good mix of male and female staff. There was also opportunity to interact with other candidates during the start of the day via ice-breakers and during lunchtime.
The networking events were very calm, like the rest of the day. Nobody was patronising. It was made easy for us to ask questions. They were willing to chat. The senior members of staff would give a talk, followed by an opportunity to ask questions, whereas the summer interns led a very casual chat with Î÷¹ÏÊÓÆµs in groups of 4-5.
There are many sports and clubs you can get involved in at BP, such as the Yoga club, weekly football etc. Since, this is different to investment banking, the employees have weekends off and can therefore maintain a good work-life balance, along with manageable hours during the week. However, it is obligatory to get involved in extra-curricular activities.
Yes, I would recommend this to a friend because the day provided a very deep insight into all the roles available and how to access those roles via internship and graduate programmes. It also unveiled the company's culture and answered any questions I had about the business, as well as working at the company. The trading game was an invaluable experience and helped me decide whether I like trading or not.
Details
Insight / Vacation Scheme (< 4 Weeks)
Engineering
London
September 2016