FLDP Industrial Placement - Project Accountant Review

My work was incredibly varied and interesting and gave me the opportunity to interact with lots of different groups of individuals.

I felt incredibly valued from both my own finance team and the wider project team I worked as part of in relation to the GR9 and JUMP programmes.

Unfortunately at the initial outset of my placement we had staff shortages. This did lead to a lack of support and guidance initially, although this improved drastically towards the end of my placement.

Due to the initial staff shortages mentioned above, I was incredibly busy although never pushed beyond my capabilities.

Thankfully I was given as much responsibility as I could handle as soon as possible. Initially this seemed like quite a daunting experience but in retrospect it was definitely the best way of me developing my skills as quickly as possible.

BAE Systems were incredibly generous with respect to the amount of both time and money they plowed into my development. This included both formal training courses, for example MS Excel modules and on the job training through a hand-over period. As a result of the increased responsibility I was given and the fact that I worked closely as part of a project team, I acquired or grew lots of key 'soft skills' which will prove vital in my continual professional development.

My office was generally a very relaxed environment although due to the fact that it was over 90% male and probably over 60% being 50+ it was a bit dull for someone in their twenties.

The placement scheme itself was organised very well, with the FLDP management team organising a number of key events for the graduate/industrial placement community. This included annual graduate conferences.

As mentioned previously BAE Systems invested exceptionally heavily in my development, both long term and short term.

The FLDP scheme offers structured development and continual progression through the finance function inside the company. I've also already been offered a graduate role.

In my particular placement very limited as there was only two industrial placement students on my site.

Where I lived was in Surrey, on commuter belt and consequently prices were very expensive. I know of one industrial placement student who needed to a student loan to get by.

In the immediate area where I worked nightlife was almost non existant but I could get a 40 min train into London and Guildford was a 10 min drive.

Again, due to the somewhat skewed demographic in my office and the lack of other placement students.