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National Energy System Operator

Graduate Power Systems Engineer Review

at National Energy System Operator

Placement (10 Months+)

Engineering

Wokingham

Review Submitted: December 2024

Overall Rating

4.3 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

4/5 - Overview of Role
3.8/5 - Skills Development
5/5 - Support and Guidance
4.5/5 - Company Culture
4/5 - Overall Experience
5/5 - Future Career Prospects

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
Current role is to work on insights about the future of the energy system. The work can be very varied but typically will involve a lot of internal engagement with multiple teams on work they have done around a particular topic. The findings are often then presented to internal or external stakeholders, either feeding into formal requests or an internal document.
Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
At the moment, I feel as though I don't have that much responsibility. However in a previous placement at NESO, towards the 2nd half, I felt I has a lot of responsibility and was providing a lot of value to the team. I was a main point of contact for a specific topic area and I felt despite being junior to the team that I was still a key part of it.
Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
4/5

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
Current placement has allowed me to broaden my skill set away from pure engineering, with a focus more on whole system thinking, planning, and operation. Skills on communication and presentation have been further developed during this placement.
I think more could be done to allow us develop more job-specific skills as currently most training doesn't feel as useful to day-to-day work though may be useful for personal development. Would like to see more training on engineering topics and also skills such as coding or other software-specific training.
How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
3/5
How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
4/5
How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
4/5
Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
4/5

Support and Guidance

How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
A lot of support and guidance at all stages. The management system is good whereby a manager is assigned who looks after you for the duration of the graduate program and then placement-specific managers are assigned for each of the three placements. This feels like a good approach and works well. Also, due to the culture at the company, raising issues never feels like a challenge and is always encouraged by management.
How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
5/5
How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
5/5

Company Culture

What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
Excellent. All round really good company culture, very open, welcoming and inclusive for everyone. Easy to speak to everyone and never viewed as lesser than anyone else due to being new/junior in the company. Graduates are widely respected as providing value and for the most part meaningful work is assigned, not just basic admin tasks. Events and team-building activities help build a sense of belonging at the company.
How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
5/5
How would you rate the social opportunities?
4/5
How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
5/5
How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
4/5

Overall Experience

To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
I'm enjoying my current placement, even though it's a little outside of my job area but I feel it's good experience. The team are fantastic and manager is great, I had a clear set of tasks assigned to me at the start. I think due to the nature of the team, the scope of the tasks has changed a fair bit but I think the managers have done a good job to try and ensure I know what I need to do.
Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
4/5
Please rate how your experience met your expectations
4/5

Future Career Prospects

Please rate the future employment prospects at National Energy System Operator
5/5

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend National Energy System Operator to a friend?
Yes
What advice would you give to others applying to National Energy System Operator
Ensure that you are open minded and willing to learn and adapt. Also important to demonstrate understanding of whole system challenges and ways of thinking not just on the electricity vector. Good interpersonal skills and presentation skills will definitely be beneficial.
In This Review
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