Power Academy Placement Review

I really enjoyed my placement at National Grid. The atmosphere of the company is incredibly positive and a lot is done to make you feel welcome and included. My project was very interesting and, due to some of the technical aspects, I feel like I have genuinely learned a lot, as well as getting a chance to meet a diverse mix of employees from different departments and attend a wide variety of talks and visits. Overall it has been a very positive experience.

I felt valued in so far as people took me and my project seriously and were always willing to help. My line manager in particular was good at helping with whatever was needed and at no point did I feel like I'd be given a menial task to keep me occupied, but rather I was doing something which could be of use and people treated me in line with this. The development side of the placement, such as interactions with HR, were great as they made you feel incredibly valued - you got the feeling they genuinely wanted you to consider working there and when they talked about developing you they did actually mean it.

My manager was always willing to help - whether that be pointing out people to contact or in some cases contacting people himself. He was obviously busy but would make time to help if needed. In terms of support provided by HR, it was fantastic. I feel like if I had needed to speak to anyone at any point it wouldn't have been an issue.

My project was essentially open-ended which meant it was possible to fill the time easily by continuinally working on it by adding more detail or considering different options. In terms of other things to do to help around around the department this was slightly harder as the technical nature of the team meant that most people were doing specialised jobs that it wouldn't be very easy to quickly pass work to a placement student for the day. In spite of this we did help out with some reporting work for a senior manager. Most of the time was spent on the project but it was never boring or I never really felt like I didn't have anything to do.

The project was to add to work my manager was doing so in that respect it was important. Apart from some business-sensitive relationships with external companies which, understandably, my manager handled contacting, I was trusted to contact people in the business, set up my own meetings and develop ideas on the project independently.

I feel the skills and knowledge I have developed in this placement will have hugely benefitted me. In terms of knowledge, the work I was doing was just slightly advanced of my university level education which means I've essentially had a crash course over the summer and should put me in good stead for university next year in terms of technical understanding. In terms of skills developed, I've had a chance to give several presentations which I feel will be beneficial to me going forward. Specific to National Grid/this industry I have attended lots of presentations and sessions which have massively improved my understanding of the company/industry - both technically and from a business-awareness point of view - and will hopefully help in my future career.

The general atmosphere in the office is really good. It's massive and very busy and doesn't ever feel 'slow'. In our specific team people were friendly and although most were clearly busy they would chat. People would bring cakes and sweets in occasionally. I got the impression most people liked their jobs and seemed pretty happy at work most of the time.

It was really well organised. We had HR and site inductions, our security passes were easy to obtain, laptops and software were (for the most part) available from the start. We regularly got emails sent to the group of placement students updating us and it was also very clear who was available to speak to if you wanted to ask a question. Other people from different parts of the business regularly either organised talks for the placement students or invited us to talks that were already taking place.

The personal training and development is a big part of the placement and I found it really well done. You are assessed as a placement student against criteria to make sure you are developing so it's clear what you should be focussing on. It's quite easy to get opportunities to develop if you seek them out, whether that be delivering presentations, attending talks etc. I did really get the impression that HR do care about your development as they emphasise it a lot and there is much done to help you.

Future employment prospects with the company are very appealing. There is a progression route from Power Academy to the graduate scheme available. We were given a large amount of information about the graduate scheme during our placements and it sounds excellent. The careers that the scheme can lead to also sound very interesting and diverse. Ultimately, the company is one that I would like to work for so I would be very interested to be offered the graduate scheme when my time comes at the end of the Power Academy programme.

There was an excellent social scene. Most people lived together and were very good at organising things to do. We met up usually once or twice on evenings mid-week and would meet up at weekends as well. We did pub quizzes, went to the park, had barbeques, went on nights out. The people were great to spend the summer with. To anyone considering applying to National Grid based in Warwick, I would strongly suggest living in/near Leamington as this is where most people stay and it makes socialising a lot easier.

We were lucky in that the placement students I shared accommodation with were able to get a short term summer let on a house which was very cheap for the area, but if you aren't as lucky then rent in Leamington can be pricey. In terms of day-to-day expenses it's much like other places, you can do it as cheaply or expensively as you want. There are very affordable decent bars, restaurants and cafes so socialising is easily do-able. I managed totally fine on the placement wage, although I appreciate we were lucky with rent.

There were enough bars and restaurants that are affordable and decent so it was easy to go out. There are only a couple of clubs and they're not the best but probably no worse than the average university town. We did a few pub quizzes which were good. I was never bored at weekends and I think there's enough stuff in Leamington to suit most people for a summer. It's also easy to get to Birmingham and reasonably easy to get to London so you can go there.

As in the previous answer, there wasn't much formally organised outside of work but we organised lots of stuff ourselves. It was also possible to join sports teams or other clubs that were posted on the noticeboard - I'm not sure if anyone this summer actually did as we were only here for the summer but the option was there.