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I found the internship incredibly interesting and I found BP a really comfortable place to work. The work I was given was largely project-based, but I felt like I was really able to contribute and add value in my role as I was given a lot more responsibility than I was expecting.

The workplace structure at BP is very flat and I really felt like there wasn’t the hierarchy that you hear about in a lot of companies. Everyone was very forthcoming and encouraged you to spend time with them and ask questions. The people I worked with certainly made it a very fruitful atmosphere in which to learn.

My manager was always keen to encourage me to use my initiative, so the guidance I received was more and more hands-off as I progressed through my placement, which I preferred. Having said that, support was always on hand when I needed it and nobody expected you to know anything when you arrived, so it was easy to ask questions.

I always felt like I had work to be doing and if ever you weren’t happy with the work you were given, managers always seemed accommodating and keen to help. The work was also quite varied and I felt like I had the freedom to dictate my work towards more what I was interested in, which definitely helped keep me busy.

There was never too much responsibility, but at the same time I always felt like I was contributing, especially towards the end when I was able to present the work I had completed over the summer to colleagues. Other interns had more responsibility in terms of report-writing, but you were always guided through how to deal with it.

There was a lot of structured training at the start of the internship, which brought everyone to the same point and it was incredibly useful in giving us the skills that we would apply throughout our internship. I felt like my communication skills were heavily developed because I was given ample opportunity to present my work and to speak to many different people. I also learnt a lot about programming in Python, which is a very useful transferable skill.

It was a comfortable working environment that I found to be very productive. I was initially worried that it would be too noisy, but it was the opposite because I found that there was always people on hand to help with any problems. It was also a proactive environment for learning about different job roles within the company and I feel I picked up a lot of technical knowledge which assisted me in my internship.

The support structure was very sound at BP because there was always someone to contact with any problem, big or small. It was also very well organised and the transition into my role was pretty much seamless, which helped me settle in quickly and get on with my work. We were kept as a group of interns for many exercises and training, which meant you easily made new friends.

BP provided a lot of hours of training at the start which is something that I felt lucky to have. They also encouraged us to do whatever additional training we felt we needed and so many of us attended extra courses which then would help us take our projects further in our internship. I also felt that BP really invest in you as a person, which contributes to a healthy working atmosphere.

I got offered a role on the graduate scheme, which I am extremely happy with. The work I did was thoroughly interesting and it was really an atmosphere in which I felt comfortable and somewhere I could see myself working. The uptake of interns was high because the initial application process is quite thorough, but that is encouraging because it shows they wouldn’t take you unless they believed you would belong there.

There was a strong social culture between the interns and so we formed quite a close-knit group. There could have been more social occasions with current graduates, however it seemed like the interns socialised within their team fairly regularly, which was encouraging. There was a mixture of organised and spontaneous social occasions, which really made the internship enjoyable.

Being based in Canary Wharf in London was expensive and the commute wasn’t always very comfortable, but I feel like the £5 towards lunch in the canteen really helped to ease the pain. It also meant there was one less thing to worry about in the day because eating and living in London is dear. Many interns lived at home or in uni accommodation, but it was definitely more expensive for those who didn’t.

There is a strong social culture at the end of the working week, with many teams going for drinks. However, there didn’t seem to be a tendency for nights out, which wasn’t really a problem because it would make getting up the next morning rather difficult. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed going out with the team because it’s definitely easier to get to know people outside a working environment.

The HR team organised a couple of different events including a philanthropic day, which involved gardening and painting in the local communities. The day was really well organised and it was a good chance to meet interns from different sites and contribute something as a team. In addition to this, BP put on many different activities that its employees can take part in, which is something I didn’t expect.