IT Analyst Review

I extremely enjoyed my placement at 3M. From the very first day, I was provided with thorough training for 3 weeks and was also assigned my first project which lasted for approximately 6 months within the first week of starting. At 3M, you are immediately treated as a permanent employee and given total responsibility to manage yourself, the work and your time independently.

On the very first day of my enrolment, I was assigned a buddy who helped to ease the transition into work. In addition, we regularly had team meetings to help me to familiarise myself with my colleagues and establish a networking framework. Additionally, there were team lunches and social events organised by the team to celebrate my birthday or other celebrations such as Christmas. I felt that my colleagues were easily approachable and always willing to help and provide support.

My manager was incredibly supportive from day one. We had regular meetings whereby we would discuss a development plan in action in addition to establish 30, 60 and 90 day goals. After 6 months into my placement, I was given a mentor who was in a similar role as my position but at a more experienced and senior level. My mentor was extremely useful whenever any technical guidance was required or any other daily challenges that I had faced which required immediate attention.

There were weekly tasks which had to be done regardless of other project work. These tasks were always scheduled in my calendar which enabled me to work around and time manage effectively. On a daily basis, there were always emails every morning which required either a response or awareness. Therefore, I would always dedicate at least half an hour into checking my emails. Additionally, there was always project work for me to get involved it. However, it was solely my responsibility to organise and prioritise my work which in turn determined the structure of my working day,

From the first few weeks, I was treated as an immediate employee and was assigned my first major project. The project was vital of importance as I had to ensure compliance and legality factors. The responsibility was incredible, particularly as I had to code in C#, which was an object-oriented programming language that I was initially unfamiliar with as we are taught Java at University. With this in mind, however, I was able to overcome this challenge via on the job and external training. In this project, I had to present gate reviews to get the project officially signed off in addition to regular meetings with the IT champion, Business champion and project sponsor. I was given complete responsibility to undergo the development and testing in addition to supporting the post-project implementation.

All Industrial Placement and Graduate students are enrolled on an Emerging Talent Program which aims to increase an individual’s employability via numerous workshops, training and self-development techniques. This was extremely valuable in building my personal brand, confidence and enhancing my soft skills. I also attended internal training courses, complimentary of 3M to all its employees, which consisted of a range of different self-developing topics. Overall, I valued all these opportunities as such skills are not necessary taught at University but instead are skills which are gained within a working environment.

The general atmosphere in the office was relatively relaxed. We had an open office whereby all team members will be in close vicinity. This allowed the opportunity to freely bounce suggestions and ideas. Despite the smart business wear attire, everybody is extremely friendly and are happy to help and support you during your career journey.

The placement was well organised as I did not have to wait for any equipment when I was enrolled. I was continuously updated prior to starting my placement by HR via email and they also helped me to contact the other placement students via LinkedIn in order to find suitable accommodation. I was provided with a buddy within the first three weeks which was really useful in easing the transition into work as he gave me a handover session which involved training.

I was only allowed to go on training courses if the course was relevant to a particular project that I was working on. As a result, there wasn’t many courses that I was able to attend despite suggesting to my manager that this was something of interest, particularly due to the fact that I wanted to refresh my skills in particularly areas before going back to University to complete my final year. However, this meant that in areas that were unfamiliar to me, I was able to strengthen my knowledge by independent learning.

The future employment prospects within the organisation is very appealing. Employees are encouraged to move around within the company in terms of roles to expand their knowledge on the business and divisions. With 3M being a large organisation, there are various job prospects to move to another country worldwide. You are also able to establish and build networks and connections which will also help in employment prospects.

There was a small social scene amongst my team in my division. However, there were the odd team lunches and coffee breaks. With that in mind, however, 3M do provides a lot of events such as Christmas Parties, sports and social clubs and frequent professional speakers for all employees to get involved with.

I lived in Reading which was near Bracknell. This was because Bracknell is a currently undergoing regeneration and Reading is usually the ideal place to live due to the socialising aspects. The cost of rent is reasonable and may be considered relatively expensive depending on which area you have travelled from. Personally, I thought cost of living was expensive as I am originally from the Midlands where accommodation is plentiful and reasonably priced. IN Reading there are many restaurants and cafes so socialising is not a problem

The Nightlife in the area I worked was non-existent. I would recommend either travelling to adjacent cities like London or Reading where Nightlife would be more popular due to the urban culture. Bracknell is currently a town undergoing regeneration so the local council is trying to improve all aspects. I would highly state to live in Reading as accommodation and social expenses will be cheaper in comparison to London.

Opportunities in terms of activities to get involved with outside of work were plentiful. Such examples include the Team cycling, Netball, Football, Squash, Tag Rugby clubs which were in favour of those who love sport. Other activities included Firework displays for Bonfire Night, Fun Family Weekends and BBQ’s for employees to bring along their family members etc