Placement Student - Fundamental Science Review

You have an ongoing project which keeps you pretty busy, but there will be times when you'll help other people with their projects to meet launch dates and deadlines. I've never felt stressed or that I'm too busy to cope. If you time manage well you'll have enough to do without feeling like it's too much work.

Although your manager helps you with your project and gives you direction and support, your project is entirely your own work. I was given loads of responsibility which felt really encouraging and it was fulfilling producing your own results. However, people are always willing to help you if you need it so you never feel on your own!

The company runs really helpful courses such as Presentation Skills, CV skills and interview skills. The sessions help you to adapt well to the working environment and prepare you for after uni, such as applying to graduate schemes. However, the work I did for my project didn't really involve a tremendous amount of chemistry which is disappointing as I would have liked to have gained training for more things such as HPLC etc.

I worked in NGP and the atmosphere in this department was lively and fast-moving. It was a great environment, as there was always people around to talk to and ask for help and the fast pace meant there were always projects and opportunities to get involved with. There's always people around to go to lunch with and the office itself was very sociable.

The company spends a lot of time and effort preparing you for the working world after university - sessions such as CV skills and interview skills are set up to help you exceed after placement. You also feel extremely valued by the company as a lot of past placement students come back to work at BAT and people constantly ask you whether you're enjoying your work and would like to come back... you're made to feel like they would love to have you back!

Starting salaries for returning placement students are considerably higher than other companies which is appealing. It is also evident that BAT is the type of company where 'rising through the ranks' is possible. You make good connections and friendships on placement (it's a friendly company) and you feel keen to come back to work with these people. I do not wish to pursue academia further and get a PhD and BAT is the type of company where a PhD is not necessary to do well, which is encouraging.

Before you start placement you are given a list with all the placement students' names and phone numbers so that you can make a group chat and start getting to know each other. They arranged an induction month before we started placement (free meal and drinks) which was really fun as it broke the ice and we all got to know each other. This made finding a house together a bit easier. Throughout the year there's been a good social scene amongst both the students and colleagues!

My rent was a reasonable price (£400 pcm) and my apartment was in a nice area. It is possible to find housing even cheaper than that though. Southampton isn't too pricey which is good, but there are many areas of the city that I would class as 'dodgy' so you have to be careful where you go. Generally, Southampton is a fairly cheap city considering it is in the south.

There is a large variety of choice when it comes to nightlife in Southampton, which is good. There are loads of bars, pubs and clubs so something for everyone. Because there loads of different venues, there are places that specialise in different types of music. However, the quality of some of the clubs is debatable so be careful where you go. Southampton isn't the biggest city so everything is basically within walking distance.

The sports and social committee at work is really good! They post adverts about events happening around Southampton (which you may not hear about otherwise). You can buy tickets from them and they are usually subsidised (half price for employees!). Examples include obstacle 5k races, theatre shows, festival tickets and many more. Loads of opportunities!