Industry & Enterprise Sales Support Review

I have enjoyed my placement in the sense that it has given me an insight into the working world as well as the opportunity to experience life within a global corporation. I have also enjoyed being able to network with more senior professionals, which will hopefully benefit me in the future when I am looking for further employment.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues as many of my day to day tasks fed in to further aspects of the business that would aid colleagues higher up the chain with completing their tasks. I was also well looked out for with a lot of support from managers, mentors and tutors, which also made me feel valued in the sense that they did not want me to feel unsupported at any point.

I was constantly given a huge amount of support by both my task manager and my early professionals manager. I was always aware I could rely on either of them should I have an issue that needed attending to, or if I wasn't comfortable within my role or with certain tasks. There was always someone I could turn to with any issue.

When I started my placement and hadn't quite found my feet within the role I was quite busy as there was a lot I could be doing to further my understanding of certain tasks, however as I progressed further within the placement there was less to do as I had "mastered" my basic tasks. I had to actively search for other projects to fill my time with in order to be busy.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility, particularly for certain files I produced as many colleagues were dependent on them to continue with their own roles. I was often required to support my manager with the work they were undertaking too, which also gave me further responsibility and I was proud that they felt they could trust me with that.

I feel I have gained some invaluable skills during my placement. The main skill I have developed since starting is my ability to use excel. It is a programme I used on a daily basis and have developed constantly throughout the year - colleagues often come to me with excel related queries. I think this is a great skill that will contribute greatly within whatever career I decide to pursue. One of the other main skills I developed is that of professionalism, I have learnt a bit more on how to communicate both verbally and via email, as well as how to present myself. This is also a skill I believe will come in useful at University and in my future career.

The atmosphere within the office varied greatly on a day-to-day basis, this is because during the week many colleagues work from home, but choose to come in Tuesday-Thursday, this made Monday's and Friday's relatively quiet. There was a generally happy atmosphere within the office, with colleagues sitting within close proximity of each other and communicating on a regular basis. There were times when it was a little more stressful as everyone was under pressure for Month/Quarter/Year end, however we were all in it together!

The placement scheme is brilliantly set up and has been well established for a number of years now. The company has taken on board comments from previous placement students and acted on them in a bid to constantly improve their scheme. There is a good set-up and influence on personal development with each student being required to fill in their own placement guide throughout the year, as well as being allocated an early professionals manager as a constant support.

I believe the firm invests quite heavily into developing its young professionals as there are various sessions that are run on a regular basis to help develop students skills. Sessions included talks/discussions with early professionals managers, educational conference calls, workshops, careers academy's, cloud meetings and other virtual self-learning platforms.

I would say future employment prospects within the company are quite good. The graduate scheme offered is extremely good with the option to rotate through various roles over a two year period. This would help individuals decide what role they felt was more suited to them as well as giving them different experiences and skills within different areas of the business.

The social scene with fellow placement students was very good, there were over 100 of us at my location which meant there was the opportunity to socialise with a large number of people. There were many events that went on during the year, including Christmas parties. There are also a large number of sports clubs that employees can get involved in which was another great way to meet and socialise with colleagues you might not otherwise have met.

The cost of living and socialising where I worked was probably higher than usual as it is in central London. This does not mean to say it wasn't manageable but it is more expensive than students would be used to, it is however a once in a lifetime type of opportunity so worth spending the money on!

The nightlife within central London is very good, there doesn't tend to be a day or night where there isn't something going on. Numerous clubs, bars and restaurants are scattered across London and if that didn't take your fancy then there are plenty of other things to do such as go to the cinema, theatre, dungeons, madame tussards, aquarium, zoo, there are so many options!

The company offers various sports teams, including football, rugby and netball. I personally got involved in the Netball team as it is something I have done throughout University and didn't want to give it up while I was away. I was also able to join a team outside of work in my local area, all it takes is a simple google and a good attitude and commitment and you'll manage to find something you'd like to be involved in.