Insight Analyst Review

The work was very interesting, the best part of this job is that it doesn't become repetitive. Nearly every week you're working on a new project/ a new bit of analysis. Along with the interesting work I was able to take part in charity events and was given the opportunity to travel with the graduates to different call centres around the UK which made the placement much more fun and enabled me to get on well with other placement students and graduates.

My team was very supportive and would always take anything I did or suggested with great respect. I didn't feel like a student on a placement year but rather a fellow employee which was brilliant because I never had the fear of thinking that my colleagues won't take me seriously. My colleagues were happy to ask me any questions about any work I had worked on and made sure they included me in all activities they did even after work.

I had one to ones with my supervisor every week. He was very supportive because he made sure I had a list of goals for the year and every week he would make sure I was on the right path towards the goal. My manager was brilliant because he would let me take on a project by myself and encourage me to use my own ideas but was always there when I was stuck with anything and was always keen to help but also made sure he was not intimidating.

Towards the end of the placement I became a lot busier as I had the ability to do a lot more and had developed the skills to be able to carry out a lot more work and therefore was delegated more responsibility. On the whole I believe it was a good balance, sometimes there would be days where deadlines are tight and work needs to be completed that day and other days are more relaxed and you can take it easy and work at a slower pace. I believe there was a good mix and there was always support available on the busier days.

I was given as much responsibility as my fellow analyst colleagues, I had the responsibility of chairing the weekly team meetings which was a massive responsibility as I had to make sure the meetings were productive and enjoyable. I was also given responsibility to organise charity days for the team. In terms of the work I was doing, I was carrying out similar tasks to my colleagues which showed I was given equal responsibility as them. If I wanted more responsibility I could have always asked my manager and he would have been happy to delegate it.

Most of the training you recieve for this role is on the job training but you are able to learn a great amount from that. I was able to learn SQL, SAS, HQL and R. I feel the non technical skills learnt from the job are much more useful for my degree such as picking out the most important part of my finding and creating a compelling story out of it. I feel in Economics you must always show clearly what your most important point is and be able to create a compelling argument from it. This is a skill you can only master through experience and luckily I was given the opportunity at this placement to do so.

Generally the atmosphere was quiet and most people would be cracking on with their work. Although it was mostly quiet it was still a fun atmosphere and you were able to joke around with your colleagues provided you would get your work done. It was pretty chilled out but may have been better if it was a bit louder so you felt comfortable talking or joking around with your colleagues. Overall the banter level in the office was decent.

Given it was the first year they did the placements, I thought it was very well organised. I had no troubles and there was never a day where I wasn't doing anything. As soon as I met my team and my line manager I was treated like a normal employee. I liked how I had to set goals for my year and how I could do tasks which would allow me to fulfill them goals. We also had monthly catch ups with the director of the department which was brilliant as not many people get to meet him and learn from him. Overall it was well organised and there isn't much in the way the organisation of it can be improved.

Most of the training was on the job but at the begining my manager would spend a lot of time with me to ensure I am on the right tracks which was very beneficial. The company also paid for trips to see other call centres around the UK which helped me get to grips with how the business works and how big the business actually is. There were also monthly sessions for analysts to be able learn from each other and for us to ask any questions on any problems we were experiencing. Overall there was enough invested in me for e to be able to do my job well and to take away a lot of skills.

The graduate program is very appealing as you are able to rotate roles four times and get a grasp of the different areas of insight and data. I also like how all the graduates were very close and were good friends, this is something I found very attractive and would make me go back to work at the company. Besides the graduate scheme I believe working n Insight and data for British Gas enables you to learn a great amount of technical and non technical skills which you don't always get to learn at other places.

There was definitely a good social scene and graduates and placement students go out to socialise together and end up becoming very good friends. Everyone is easy to get along with. There was also a weekly football game within the department that I also participated in. Overall even thought the area doesn't have many places to socialise there are still opportunities to do so.

I used to commute from London and this ended up to be very expensive as Staines is out of the zones but restaurants were cheap but there were not many places in Staines to socialise at, I would much prefer to travel to London to socialise.

Staines doesn't really have a night life. There are a few restaurants but no clubs or bars in the area but it isn't too far from London so you can always get on a train to London to experience the proper nightlife!

There were lots of activities outside of work that you could get involved in. These include charity events, weekly football, runs, walks, helping out in schools. There was a lot to choose from!