Information Security Intern Review

I've absolutely loved my placement year. I've had multiple jobs over the 5 years before university, and Computacenter is by far the most enjoyable job I've had so far. The culture at Computacenter is very open and friendly, and within a month or two I felt comfortably settled there. There are plenty of opportunities to learn new skills, meet new people and develop professionally. Only loses one star due to a slow start.

I've always felt welcome in the company, if not necessarily trusted with a lot of work at the start. I have a fantastic team, right the way from junior analysts to senior management. I chose to take a placement in a field which I had absolutely no knowledge or experience in, so it was always going to be a risk. After a briefly slow start I have always felt appreciated and valued by my colleagues, and I couldn't ask for a nicer team.

More of a mixed bag here. I wasn't really sure who to report to when I started, everyone was on holiday and it ended up quite difficult to know where to go to find work. In the end, I ended up working for several different teams and I was never sure which one to prioritise.

Very quiet for the first 2-3 months, and very busy afterwards! Overall I've struck up a good balance with my workload, and I've learnt how and when to say no if I feel I have too much on. My current workload is perfect for me, and I would've given a higher score had it not been for the beginning.

Once I had found my feet here, I was given a lot of responsibility. I took on the role of dedicated on-site security officer 1 day a week at one of our major client's head office in London, and was responsible for a lot of remediation work and hosting regular meetings between Computacenter and the customer.

The content of most of the work I have carried out during my placement year isn't very relevant to my degree, so unfortunately I haven't been able to apply/develop most of my technical skills. However, the placement experience has overall been invaluable, and has helped me greatly with regards to selecting a future career path.

The atmosphere in my office is always very positive. Everybody is friendly, helpful and always on hand to offer assistance wherever needed. I've made some great friends in my year here that I will endeavor to stay in touch with.

The induction process was extremely well organised, all the way from initial contact at the Bournemouth Uni careers fair to when I eventually started, The first half of my year was quite slow, with little work or structure in place, but after an initial slow period, I fell into a much more structured area of the department.

Unfortunately I haven't had any formal training during the placement so I won't be leaving with any professional certifications/qualifications. The majority of what I've learned has been self taught through research and learning on the job. I haven't actually asked for any training, but I know some of the other placement students here have paid training as part of their year.

Judging from the feedback I've had from the management team in my department, I don't think I would have any trouble returning to Computacenter once I've graduated. I will definitely give it some serious thought. The culture is great, the pay is competitive and the office has good links to London.

Getting to know the other placement students (there were 13 in total) has been an absolute highlight for me. I moved quite far from home to take a job with Computacenter, and it wouldn't have gone as smoothly without the other placement students. The company put a lot of effort in when we started to get us all integrated with each other.

Given that the location is so close to London, rent is obviously not very cheap. Fortunately there are many places in Hatfield and the surrounding area to shop and eat cheaply, but if I were to come back to Computacenter I would take much more care to find somewhere a bit cheaper to live.

The nightlife in Hatfield is very average. There is only one club, the student union club, and one bar which, fortunately, is a very cheap Wetherspoons. There are a few towns around Hatfield with better nightlife, and London is only a 30 minute train journey away, but all the costs of transport do add up!

Same as above