Vacation Student (Digital Services) Review

My role supported project delivery in the digital water team, including:
- Admin (emails/ meeting requests, organising calendar, weekly timesheets)
- Progress meetings (with placement supervisor or with the wider team - weekly basis)
- Project briefing meetings (with project manager(s); introduction to project particulars, individual tasks and deadlines)
- Project working meetings (internal team workshops, required meetings with external clients/ stakeholders)
- Individual work (completing tasks required for projects, including producing research, deliverables and feeding work back to relevant parties)

I was given so much independence during my internship - I had 1 major project which I was briefed on from week 1 and had responsibility over its development, culminating in a final presentation in week 9 of where I had taken it. For my other projects, I was responsible for completing individual tasks to deadlines - usually with an average of 1 week turnaround. My new ideas were well received and created new personal project streams.

I definitely think that having so many meetings with internal and external stakeholders has improved my confidence and interpersonal skills. I have also had to sharpen my existing time management to balance my projects.
Technically, I have also received flood modeller training and have been able to strengthen my existing skills in QGIS. I have also had the opportunity to build presentations and video outputs to brand specifications.

I received excellent support and guidance during the internship - I was allocated a buddy within the office site I was placed in, as well as a supervisor within the Digital Water team, and had progress updates with them on a weekly basis. I also received great support regarding software and pay requests when issues arose, which were resolved quickly.

The company culture felt very relaxed yet innovative - I didn't really feel like there was too much emphasis on level/ position as it was easy and encouraged to communicate to anyone and everyone regardless of level. It definitely felt as though I was surrounded by experts within the digital water team who were approachable and willing to pass on their knowledge.

I really enjoyed my internship. I feel like I learnt a lot about the water sector which I had not previously come across during my university degree - especially regarding the relationships between utilities, governments, research and consultants; as well as about novel digital tools and water monitoring techniques. I also appreciated that I was trusted to work independently.

Yes