With just over two weeks until my placement begins, I thought I best give blogging a go! I’m Brenna Hucthingson and my placement this summer is with BAe Systems Regional Aircraft. As an Aeronautical Engineer at Glasgow University, I’m so excited to have landed an internship with an Aerospace company where I can really use some of what I have learned over the last four years! This week I am finishing up at my job of three years at Blockbuster, and suddenly I realise how close it is until I start at BAe Systems! It is going to be a huge change which I really feel ready for.
Unlike most people whose blog I have read, I’m not packing my suitcase and fretting over visa processes at the moment, since the first half of my placement will be spent in Prestwick. I have visited Prestwick a few times with uni and for my interview (I was lucky enough to not have to face the dreaded phone interview), and I am really looking forward to being integrated into their team. All the people I have met so far who are based in Prestwick seem really eager for interns to achieve something during their time at BAe Systems and be treated as a normal employee, which I think is fab! I am also aware that there are around twelve other non-saltire placements at Prestwick this year and so I am determined to stand out from “the crowd” and really push myself during my time there.
So, I will be working in Prestwick until the 6th of August, then I will be relocating for the next three or four weeks (TBC) to Stockholm, Sweden. I can’t wait! When I first discovered last week that I was going to Sweden I knew very little about the country except from its lovely ladies and that it makes some funky furniture. It’s am amazing opportunity to go somewhere that perhaps I would not have visited otherwise and experience the culture differences and how this affects their work practises.
I think that one of the most interesting parts of my individual placement will be the comparison I will be able to make between the experiences at Prestwick and Stockholm within the same company.
At the moment I am researching some of the aspects of my project which have been outlined, trying to find a pair of comfy work heels and attempting to get a grasp of the Swedish language (although I am assured that most people will speak good English).
I hope everybody gets off to their place of residence safely and swiftly over the coming few weeks and I’m really looking forward to hearing about all the amazing experiences everyone is having during placement!
Brenna