PM Graduate Review
at BAE Systems
Graduate Scheme
Project Management
Barrow-in-Furness
Review Submitted: November 2025
Overall Rating
3.6 /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!
3/5
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Overview of the Role
4.6/5
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Experience & Company Culture
1/5
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Recommendations & Advice
Overview of the Role
Overall, how would you describe your experience at BAE Systems?
Overall my experience at BAE Systems has been great. The company has great benefits and provides excellent training courses.
What are the main responsibilities of the role and which elements of the role do you enjoy the most?
The main responsibilities of my role is to track and monitor the change process and communicate progress to various stakeholder.
To what extent does your role give you the opportunity to contribute meaningfully and feel valued by your team?
1/5
Meaningful contributions are limited. There is a reluctancy to discuss any points raised from a graduate in my experience.
How does your compensation package - including perks & benefits - fairly remunerate you for the work you do?
5/5
For an entry level Graduate Scheme the compensation package is excellent.
How well do you feel the role is preparing you for your future career?
1/5
In my experience immediate line managers are not interested in your future career and have the opinion that you have been hired to complete a business task or fulfil a role and anything else isn't encouraged/recognised. The complete opposite is true for the wider company. Having attended graduate events and discussion with the early careers team, there is a clear drive to progress your career and make multiple moves in any direction you like.
How would you rate the extent to which you were developing new or existing skills through formal training and your day-to-day role?
5/5
Formal training has been excellent. It was really valuable and something that I will use every day and hopefully in future roles. Day to day development and training is non existent. When I started there was no discussion with my line manager about what we do as a team and what our responsibilities were. Anything I have learnt has been from copying what a colleague has done without really understanding why.
Experience & Company Culture
How is the support you receive?
4/5
Support from the company like early careers, formal training and coaches has been excellent. Support from HR and Line Managers has been poor.
How is your work-life balance?
4/5
Graduates are not expected to do over-time and have to specifically request a week in advance through the early careers team. From what I have seen, most of the people working at BAE are comfortable setting work-life balance boundaries and requesting time off. There is always the exception though and I have seen people I know who have really struggled mentally and have unsustainable work-loads.
What is the organisational culture, values and general atmosphere like?
5/5
BAE is an inclusive place to work and I haven't seen any unwelcoming behaviour.
How would you rate BAE Systems initiatives when it comes to equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility?
5/5
How would you rate BAE Systems CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives?
5/5
BAE - Barrow takes it's social responsibilities seriously and continually invests in the community around it.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend BAE Systems to a friend?
Yes
Why?
The compensation package for the entry level role is excellent and the company (not my specific team) provides opportunities to develop yourself.
How well did the role match your expectations based on the recruitment process?
1/5
I did not expect through the application process to be placed in the role that was assigned to me. From submitting an application to being offered a role was 4 months and the starting my first day was another 7 months. There were 2 weeks of the typical onboarding which was held off site and only half way through were we told what our role would be. In my experience with the job title of PM Graduate who applied for project management, I have been placed in a team which feels very limiting and does not manage projects, only tracks the progress of the people that are project managers.
When considering the recruitment & onboarding process, have you any specific tips or advice you would give to others applying to BAE Systems?
As soon as you find out your role speak with your colleagues and ask them for their experience. This will help manage expectations and help guide any decision you might want to make about your role early on.
