Insider reports from employees
Recruiters who advertise throughout targetjobs.co.uk ask their employees to submit reports on the recruitment process they went through, plus their inductions and training, career development, working life, salaries and benefits. Use these Insider Reports to help search for your chosen employer and research your applications.
Atkins are a leading engineering consultancy and they were looking for design engineers. I wanted to become a CAD designer and so applied for the position. As a company they are constantly being nominated as one of the 'best businesses to work for' and have a very good training scheme.
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Having spent six years in Dubai before university, I have witnessed the city develop remarkably in its infrastructure to create incredible structures, most notably Atkins’s world class landmark Burj Al Arab. This first sparked my interest in the large multidisciplinary engineering consultancy and the wide variety of projects it has been involved in from building design, highways and defence, to name a few. Throughout university, Atkins was always represented for being at the forefront of their field by winning numerous awards. For that reason, I believe Atkins stands out amongst other companies due to its continuous growth and development, their history, their graduate training scheme and their involvement opportunities for the future.
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Rolls-Royce is in the field of defense engineering, which is the only field I was truly interested in. I applied to them because they had locations in the UK, attractive pay / vacation packages, is an established company in the aerospace field, and as a brand I have always been impressed with them. Their participation in university career days as well as community events was impressive as well.
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There were 3 key things that I found with Rolls-Royce: international opportunities guaranteed, a graduate scheme full of variety (in terms of work and location) and all academic disciplines accepted. Of course I was aware of their excellent reputation although I admit that when I first considered applying, I still thought they made cars...
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FTSE 100 company. London based. 2nd largest pharmaceutical company. Opportunity to do CIMA and other development courses. Aware of products and business.
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The job description fitted closely with my career aspirations and seemed to offer a wide variety of interesting and challenging work. The support towards chartership was an important factor, as was the location of the local office in which I would be mainly based.
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I saw them at a careers presentation at uni and was very impressed by the range of projects they've worked on. I completed 2 summer placements with them, which I enjoyed, and everyone seemed very friendly. When it came to choosing my graduate job I went straight to them - the training scheme seemed to give a good base for gaining chartership and the size of the company meant I would get the opportunity to work on high profile and interesting projects and get experience in a variety of areas that I may not get working for a smaller firm.
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Rolls-Royce are a prestigous, reputable organisation which invests heavily in its staff. This was a major attraction to me. Moreover, the industries RR are involved in are visible and active and this is appealing as you get to appreciate the final product.
The opportunities for progression within the company is encouraged and this is a sound pull to the company.
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Having just moved to the UK I was not privvy to campus advertising or any other marketing campaigns for graduate programmes. I relied on the advice of friends and web searches to find a prospective employer. I was initially drawn to Rolls-Royce because of its prestigious reputation however as I became more familiar with the company I was impressed by its product portfolio and by the career opportunities it offered. They offer a real variety of jobs in many different industries, in different countries, which I found really attractive. I also really liked the sound of their flexible graduate programme (the length of the programme and the placements you undertake are chosen by you according to what suits your needs), the training available and the international opportunities offered.
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Rolls Royce allowed me to specialise in an area of interest which is Human Resources and give me a breath of experience through international placements. Rolls Royce appeared committed to its graduates because it invested in CIPD accreditation.
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Location, salary, large company with many graduates.
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Received vacancy details from a Target e-mail. Salary and location were what I was looking for.
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I did two summer placements as an undergraduate before being asked to attend the graduate recruitment day. Because of the enjoyable experience, I accepted the job offer.
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I won the Rolls Royce Manufacturing Excellence Award in my Third Year. This gave me a chance to visit the company, see the factories and meet the Director of Manufacturing Engineering. This gave me a great insight to the company and their dedication to attracting and mentoring graduates.
The Times 100 top graduate Employees also shows Rolls-Royce as one of the best engineering employers. It is also a multinational, British Engineering Company with a proud history not many can boast of.
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The best company in this industry in UK.
Excellent chance of training scheme.
Best people to work with and work for.
Challenging and fantastic projects to work on.
Competitive benefits.
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I was directly involved in the Pharmaceutical industry from University but I was attracted by the developmental opportunities at GlaxoSmithKline. They offer a broad range of experiences within marketing.
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Exciting industry, product range, global market. Good training scheme
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I spent 13 months with GSK as an Industrial placement student. I'd heard of GSK prior to University but didn’t know too much about the company. I liked the sound of the position that was advertised for an IP student, and liked the thought of working for a large company so I applied and was successful. I loved working for the company over the next 13 months. The work atmosphere was relaxed but at the same time very professional, and everyone seemed to be working hard to produce the best results possible. I was given individual projects to work on, and given responsibility, but also sent on external training courses to ensure that I could perform the tasks required. After the IP year I only wanted to work for one company, so I applied for the Graduate programme, and was successful.
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They offered a wide variety of projects and the opportunity to move about within a large multinational consultancy. The people I met were approachable and friendly - the company itself seemed inclusive and diverse.
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A friend of mine had completed a 12-month industrial placement and recommended the company. Also, the company has a very strong brand image, and I wanted to make the best decision for my future career.
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My employers held an introduction day at UK headquarters during which they presented each of the available graduate schemes and gave us the chance to meet current graduates on each of the schemes. The breadth of opportunities available was the most appealing factor. I was also impressed because I was invited to attend this day directly by the company as they obtained my details from the Freshminds recruitment company I was signed up to and they were the first company that had done this at that time.
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I had a summer placement with them, and they then sponsored me through university.
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Recommended by friend. Right location, strong career progression.
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I was approached by a recruitment agency who informed me of a position available with Atkins Nuclear & Power. I accepted the offer for an interview and proceeded to carry out research on the company. I found that the graduate package was very competitive and the opportunities to develop and reach my initial career goal of Chartered status would be encouraged.
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High profile engineering company. Interesting products and in the region that I wanted to live (south west).
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My association with Rolls-Royce started when I worked for the company as an Industrial Trainee. I was primarily attracted by the company's brand name and potential benefit it would have on my CV. After gaining experience in the company, I discovered that Rolls-Royce has an excellent graduate training programme and the extent of possible experience is not limited to one area such as engineering.
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Word of mouth, aware of projects completed by Atkins and also the size of the company internationally.
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FTSE 100 Company.
Family member works for them.
Variety of departments and roles to take placements on during 3-year graduate scheme.
Offer for financing of MSc.
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At a careers fair at the University of Leeds I met an employee from Rolls-Royce on a stall as I was walking past to look at Unilever. I had a number of concerns specific to my personal situation about the recruitment process. She addressed every single one of those concerns and even suggested that I should apply for the operations management scheme that was designed for highflying individuals. This put my mind at rest and motivated me to really apply myself to the application process at Rolls-Royce in a way that no one else from another company achieved.
I then researched Rolls-Royce and was impressed to find out they were the no.1 engineering company in the times 100. I wanted to be at an engineering company at the best company on the best scheme.
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Great reputation for finance grad scheme, as well as for how they treat their employees. 3 one year rotations, support through CIMA, all locations in and around London.
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Rolls-Royce has a great reputation as offering its graduates a first-class training proramme, which for me has been borne out. The Company itself is synonymous with prestige and quality and is a world class organisation offering opportunities on a global scale.
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I was studying for my BSc at night-school during my employment with GSK and was particularly keen to apply for a place on their Graduate Scheme as I knew from Associates on the scheme who were already in the company when I was employed there that it offered great opportunities for accelerated advancement in the company as well as giving Associates on the Scheme full funding and support to do a Masters (MSc) in Information Management over the 3 year period of the Scheme. I was extremely impressed by the fact that GSK was prepared to offer a place on their Scheme for mature employees not just the regular Graduate age, and they based their choice on the aptitude of the applicant not on their age, which is an extremely open-minded and forward thinking approach.
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I was initially attracted to consider Rolls-Royce as a prospective employer by the Times 100 Top Employers report. I was also impressed by the general reputation of the company. The graduate scheme offers an excellent rate of pay, opportunities to work internationally, and an accelerated development programme for individuals with leadership potential, all of which I found very attractive.
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Presentation from Atkins at University. Seemed to have good opportunities to become chartered.
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Prior to applying for GlaxoSmithKline’s Commercial Trainee programme, I was well aware of their phenomenal reputation within the pharmaceutical industry, and the UK company’s position as a marketing powerhouse. I first found out about the scheme whilst on an industrial placement year at GSK. I was impressed by the great feedback from the former trainees I spoke to, many of whom have gone on to extremely successful careers both within GSK and the wider industry. The Commercial Trainee scheme offered me the broad basis in sales and marketing that I wanted, following a very academic degree, whilst focussing on personal development to provide me with a solid platform to launch my career from.
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I wanted to work for an international company, that could offer a wide variety of placements across the various business sectors. Rolls-Royce also offered great benefits, such as good pay, holidays and share schemes. In addition, the great reputation of Rolls-Royce was an attraction.
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They have an excellent reputation, global, excellent career prospects and the chance to move around both geographically and to different business units.
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Good reputation, many locations in the UK, strong process engineering capability, mainly wastewater treatment technologies.
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Strong Brand Name. Structure Training Programme. World-Class reputation. Ability to work Internationally.
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Through GSK's graduate recruitment partnership with AIESEC, the International student leadership charity, I was attracted by GSK's core value of ‘performance with integrity’ and the inspiring mission of being able to help people do more, feel better and live longer. GSK works with AIESEC to support the development of AIESEC members during university and this gave me an insight into the quality of the GSK people, the ethical and driven culture and unrivalled career opportunities. I had received several offers from marketing and consultancy firms and on top of choosing GSK because they were a FTSE 100, leading UK business in a fast moving industry with a very tailored and exclusive graduate scheme I chose GSK because I felt wanted by their senior management and welcomed into the GSK team.
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Very good website and graduate engineering scheme offered. Recommendation from friends and family. Well known large company with lots of opportunities for work around the world.
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Atkins is recognised internationally as a high quality supplier of engineering skills and consultancy. The size and diversity of the company attracted me to them as I could develop my skills across a broad spectrum of disciplines. This combined with the relaxed working enviroment, the quality of training they offer, their staff and the job benefits instantly made it a highly desirable company to work for.
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I applied to Ritchies (a division of Edmund Nuttall Ltd) for a summer placement. Following my experience gained they offered sponsorship for me to finish my final year. The experience gained and people I met made me decide to stay with the company following graduation.
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I was looking for an internship in the UK and from my research I have concluded that Rolls-Royce was one of the top UK employers.
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Atkins are a very well known company and after attending the graduate assessment I was impressed with what the company had to offer. I found out about Atkins after looking at their website.
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Atkins gave a presentation in my university and some materials were available in Cardiff University's career centre.
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Atkins are the largest civil engineering consultancy in the UK and work on major projects all over the world. The opportunities to develop as an engineer and gain valuable experience through involvement in large scale projects were major factors in my decision to join.
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Large multinational company offering attractive salary and training for graduates. At the recruitment process, the company seemed very keen to develop graduate needs, and train them in skills which they exceeded in. I first applied because of the size of the company and the opportunities overseas which tie in with this. They had also worked on large projects delivering attractive results, and the company was sold to me as a family, of which I wanted to be a part.
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I gained exposure to Rolls-Royce from several informative and interesting presentations that they gave at my former university. They were also regular participants in career fairs, although I was not too impressed by these as they sometimes appeared bland and overly focused on engineering (this coming from an engineering grad!). What initially attracted me to Rolls-Royce was their reputation as a high tech and innovative service provider. A feature in The Times Top 100 brochure and Rolls-Royce's website successfully promoted their graduate training scheme to me. The opportunities to work abroad was the final feature that moved Rolls-Royce to the top of my personal list of graduate employers.
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World-leading multinational company. The company's goal is to make people live longer.
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I liked the interview process and the people I met during it. The type of work they do appealed, with the potential for a variety of opportunities.
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They are one of the largest pharma companies in the world with a proven track record for developing excellent drugs and have the best reputation in the industry. They have a great graduate programme and the benefits are fantastic
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Rolls-Royce has always had a good presence amongst engineers at university. All the news i had heard about the grad scheme was good, the package, the locations etc....
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I was studying Aeronautical Engineering in my final year at University, and was very much interested in continuing in the sector for my employment. In the UK there are a fairly limited number of Aerospace Engineering companies, but Rolls-Royce was always top of my list. I had been given an Engineering focused Arkwright Scholarship whilst at school, which was sponsored by Rolls-Royce, and as part of that I was able to visit both the Derby and Bristol sites during my 6th form. It really left a lasting impression that Rolls-Royce seemed an exciting and cutting edge technology-based company, and from speaking to the graduates on the day, that it would also be a good company to work for.
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I was attracted to Rolls-Royce because as a large international company they offered the training and opportunities I desired both in the UK and internationally. Also the fact that the Engineering scheme is accredited by the IMechE was very important to me. The name of Roll-Royce attracted me. They have a great reputation for engineering, and I wanted to use the skills I gained in my degree. Rolls-Royce also has sites in Scotland, which was one of my main considerations when applying for graduate jobs. As a large company Rolls-Royce can offer great rewards and benefits, and while this was not the most important thing, it was certainly a bonus. The web site gave me the impression that they looked after their graduates, and that there would be a good support network on joining the company.
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Good reputation
Job satisfaction
Competitive Salary
Previously worked for them
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Trusted to Deliver Excellence - that's the company's motto. It's a reputation it has in the culture of the UK, and my experiences at the company haven't disappointed. The recruitment process was very slick and well supported, and the development and support I've received since joining the company has been superlative.
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I decided to apply cause they gave me the opportunity to learn in different areas of the pharmaceutical business
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The reputation, location and job prospects.
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Roll-Royce is known for world-class products and quality. To work and contribute to a company that competes globally is a true aspiration. Rolls-Royce is a company that opens doors and gives opportunities to its employees.
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GSK's mission statement of "Do more, feel better, live longer" was a big attraction. Everything the company does has that goal in mind, to do the best for the patient's we serve. I wanted to feel that I was making a real difference to people's lives, even in Finance, and with GSK I can do that.
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