Commercial co-ordinator Review

Whilst on placement at Prysmian I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. The work could sometimes become slightly monotonous as I had a few repetitive tasks within my job, however being customer facing and surrounded by talkative colleagues I enjoyed the work the majority of the time.

I had a close relationship with my colleagues whilst working at Prysmian, they helped me to feel more at ease and valued in my role. Especially because they felt they could tell me when I was/wasn't doing well.

My line manager was very supportive and easy to talk to, he was always available to give me support. Also he would like to test me and push me to become the best I could in my role and wasn't afraid for me to make a mistake - this was a massive bonus. The only negative was that I rarely saw or spoke to higher management.

In my role it varies a lot, however there was never a moment where I had no work which was a massive bonus. During certain peak time the workload would be extremely challenging but I find this to be a positive as it allows you to push yourself and really grow your skills. This is not a job for a person who enjoys a doss.

I had a lot of responsibility, this included liaising with my own area sales managers for the North of England and West Midlands. This was a big responsibility as I had many large customers under my areas which I had to ensure were happy.

There was plenty of on the job training and I developed plenty of my transferable skills. I was constantly pushed by my colleagues and managers to take more work on and to keep testing myself, this helped to develop my skills, However in terms of formal training the job lack slightly as I feel I could have gained more from set and prepared training.

I worked inside a sales office so the atmosphere was often loud and jovial. I really enjoyed this atmosphere as I was able to talk and have a good laugh with my colleagues this allowed me to feel conformable and meet new people in the office, We often had buffets, party's for events such as Christmas and celebrated peoples birthdays.

Overall the set up was good and the work placement programme was in place across the whole company, meaning that a lot of time, effort and focus was placed on the students. The training at the beginning was good, there was places it could have been improved but it put me at a good starting point.

Upon joining the company there was a training programme laid out for us that was fairly extensive and as said above gave me a good basis to start on. I feel that along the way I would have benefited from more scheduled one-on-one appraisal sessions with my manager and follow up training sessions.

Within my department there are students that used to do my role, and I often see the same situation in the other offices so clearly the opportunity to come back to Prysmian. They also offer graduate programs that allow you to travel which are very interesting and lucrative. I feel that if I wanted to come back and work here I would be given the opportunity.

There are around 10 other placement students in the Bishopstoke site and they generally live together, This normally allows for a good social scene between the students especially being so close to Southampton. We have had many nights out and the older workers love to get involved especially at birthdays and Christmas time.

I worked from home and had approximately a 30 minute comm-unite to work everyday so naturally this cost me a decent amount. But compared to living at university it was minor especially considering I was being paid. The area is quite cheap and has a decent shopping area to buy stuff from, however for nights out you need to go to Southampton which is naturally a bit more expensive.

Eastleigh has a terrible night life [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] However Southampton is close by and this is where the students always live, the nightlife there is pretty good and they have many clubs, pubs and bars to go to. Try and avoid Oceana as this place smells of fish and is full of the ogers.

There arn't loads of opportunities to do stuff outside of work. My team often go out for meals for birthdays and when we feel like it. I started a football team which we did once a week, even though everyone was terrible it was still fun. Generally the stuff outside of work is limited but if you make friends the opportunities are endless.