One year business placement Review

My placement provided a very dynamic and busy work environment. KPMG has one of the largest teams in the field in the country, which meant working on a number of high profile clients with some very exciting projects and great learning opportunities. The team and everybody in the office were friendly and approachable.

I felt my work was valued and my efforts appreciated. The management team made sure they express their appreciation of our contribution on a number of occasions. The team made sure we are fully included in all aspects of the daily working life, which I believe provides evidence that our input was valued.

3. I think there was a reasonable amount of support and guidance provided given our lack of experience and expertise in the area. I did receive a great deal of support by my managers taking time out of their busy schedules, which is greatly appreciated but I feel there was a lack of structure and direct responsibility in terms of support and guidance provided to new-joiners.

As previously mentioned, it was a busy and dynamic work environment at KPMG. The nature of the job often involved working on projects with very tight deadlines and high quality standards could not be compromised under any circumstances. Therefore, I can say I was pretty busy on a daily basis during my time at KPMG.

I believe I was given a great deal of responsibility and freedom to use my own judgment in a number of aspects in my everyday job. Whilst generally I consider this a good thing which helps you develop, I feel there should have been clearer guidelines as to what responsibilities I was expected to take on given my level of experience.

I feel I have gained some invaluable experience during my placement, which not many other firms are able to provide, therefore I believe it will be extremely beneficial for me in the future in any aspect of my personal and professional development. However, I feel like a greater focus on more formal training would have been beneficial during my placement.

The atmosphere in the office was very professional. However, there was a number of networking opportunities and social events, where everyone was very friendly and approachable. There was also a number of volunteering opportunities as well, which not only helped raise money for good causes, but also allowed people get to know each other better by working together.

I think this is an area for improvement. I believe there was a lack of clear structure to my placement and as previously mentioned, there was not a clear focus on learning and development. The limited formal training opportunities I was provided with were rather abstract and not directly focused on the field I was working in.

Personal training and development is the main aspect of my placement I felt could use an improvement. The initial lack of clear structure to my placement prevented the company of making sure I receive the training and support I need to develop and advance. As one of a few companies with its own dedicated professional qualifications team I felt KPMG did not meet my expectations in this area.

I was lucky to have been offered a permanent position with the firm at the end of my placement, therefore I can confirm that future employment prospects within the organisation are quite strong provided there is a clear business need and you have performed well during your time with the company.

Yes, all my peers were very friendly and it was always a pleasure spending time together socialising outside of work.

Reasonable

Lively city with lots going on.

Yes - plenty of networking and volunteering opportunities.