Accounts Assisstant Review

I really enjoyed my placement year at Prysmian - the old students made me feel welcome straight away and the staff are all very friendly and good fun to work with. For a first experience of a full time accounting job it has been highly enjoyable - as I have been able to apply the material I learned from university to many aspects of my job role.

I felt very valued - from very early within the year. Both the colleagues in the finance department and the rest of the building were very welcoming and friendly from the start - this made me feel a lot more relaxed in the job role and meant I felt I was able to approach any member of staff when I needed to.

My manager was very welcoming from the start and we got on well straight away. As time has gone on my manager has supported me to a high standard - checked my work if needed, showed me Excel shortcuts throughout the year as well as allowing me to work alongside him to learn more about what his role included. I felt I could ask him any questions I had.

Although I had my monthly list of jobs to undertake there were times throughout the month where I would be free. I usually approached others in the building to offer help - as well as working in another building on site to help out. I believe having a few more on-going jobs would have sufficed.

Overall I was given a lot of responsibility which I was happy about - it made me feel like I was being helpful and making a difference. My manager would show me how to carry out tasks as well as allowing me to take initiative and help others when I had time. My manager tried to give me as much of a varied experience as he could.

The Excel skills I learned through my manager will definitely help me both and university next year and in the future. The tasks I carried out allowed me to put the theory I had learned to practice and has made me feel more confident about what I learned. Having experience with the SAP system will also be a life long skill and I believe it will be highly beneficial to making me look attractive to prospective employees.

There was a great atmosphere in the finance office - having an open layout meant that everybody was approachable. As everybody was so friendly and there was a good mix of people it made the day more enjoyable due to their personalities and being able to communicate throughout the day.

I think the overall placement was very well organised - although getting introduced to the other students (so we could find accommodation together) was slightly later than hoped - meaning getting accommodation was rushed. I believe that advertising the placement was left slightly late in the year. The student guide (produced by old students in the dept) was very helpful and good to have to hand.

Throughout the year there was opportunities presented to the staff to undertake a Microsoft Excel/Word course. This was also offered to the students - which I applied for. However the course was full and I was not able to take part. I was also allowed to work in other departments (such as with the project managers) to gain other experience.

Very. I have thoroughly enjoyed working in the HV side of the business and have found it very interesting learning about the way the projects and supply only jobs work, as well as learning about the project management side of the business - it has given me new ideas for the future that I hadn't thought of before. I have realised there is many job roles that I would like to apply for within the company - either finance related or project management related.

Compared to the students from last year we didn't spend much time as a group. I socialised more with one of the students than the rest. I would have loved to all spend more time together but we aren't very close as a big group. As I had moved away and didn't know many people down here it would have been nice to have more of a social scene.

We didn't socialise much in Eastleigh - we went out in Southampton a few times (mostly when the old students were here & have planned a few nights out before the new students come) It wasn't overly priced as far as I'm aware. Southampton was good - especially when we went out in a big group.

Never went out in Eastleigh but Southampton nightlife was great - especially when we went out in big groups as it was very fun and a nice environment to be in. Lots of choice with where to go.

Not many - there was football but that was more of a boys thing and didn't appeal to me. I think having more social activities with students and staff would have been great, as I enjoyed everybody's company on the nights out that we did do (for people's leaving dos mostly)