One Year Business Placement Student - Capital Allowances Review

I enjoyed my placement year with the Capital Allowances team. I was given ample opportunity to become involved in interesting projects, and given responsibility to take on my own projects and opportunities where appropriate. The placement could have been improved by a greater variety of responsibilities, and the chance to use my creativity more often.

My team gave feedback on my performance frequently, including both positive affirmation and constructive criticism. Staff incentives were used sparingly by my own team, but were available where larger projects were concerned.

The Honest Conversation/PD system was a good way of monitoring performance and goals bi-annually, however I may have benefited from more contact with my performance manager, and more frequent feedback on my performance and goal progress.

Around times of deadlines + surplus project work, very busy. There were certain times when not much to do, due to a lack of information or client delays, but there was the opportunity to carry out non-chargeable work.

I was given a great deal of responsibility, overseeing a variety of projects from start to finish. This involved client communication, account management, and monitoring of the deliverables. This was enjoyable and fulfilling.

Due to the nature of this placement year, not much training in capital allowances / corporate tax was given, which meant that I could not fulfil my technical potential during this period. However, given my particular circumstances and career goals, this would not necessarily have been a solid investment of time.

Good. Everyone is helpful and approachable. The office set-up is not so great - the general corporate tax team was split up over a great area, so there isn't great cohesion in team communication. Socially, my placement office was not the best.

Not well organised to begin with. Firstly, I was told the office I applied to was not hosting the position - which was contrary to the description on the website. This led to a requirement to relocate. Furthermore, start dates were not published timeously, meaning I started 4-6 weeks earlier than I had been led to believe, which meant cancelling many of my summer plans. Once the placement started, we were provided with great information about our role + scheme, with an enjoyable induction period in London. Another disorganised element of the placement was future career prospects within KPMG. When informing my people leader of my wishes to enter a graduate scheme, it took months for the HR department + relevant people leaders to organise my interviews etc.

There are good online courses in both technical skills, and soft-skills. These will really benefit my future career. KPMG also facilitated courses in the head office, which indicated a willingness to invest in us.

I am excited to start on a graduate scheme in the coming Autumn. I really enjoy working for the company and I'm looking forward to developing my career here.

Not particularly. A social perhaps every 2 months. I got the impression from my London colleagues that the social scene in the head office was much more lively and exciting.

Reasonable. I had already lived in the city I was placed, so there was no difficulty.

Good.

Not through my placement / company. But I became involved in many societies outside of work.