Assistant Support Consultant Review

The role itself is intensive, constantly busy on a day to day basis and always something to do which I thoroughly enjoyed. They regularly plan a variety of extracurricular activities to meet everyone tastes and encourages colleagues to participate, these were fun! Overall, I had a great time at Prospectsoft and would recommend working here as placement role.

You’re part of the team from day 1, I was treated as any other member of the team and depending on how confident you are within your role; you get as much responsibility. Since most existing permanent members were placement students, they are very good at listening to any ideas/issues I had and were acted upon immediately.

We had a review meeting every week to discuss any plans/projects you wanted to achieve in the week, this time was also spent reviewing my performance and setting new objectives to apply existing knowledge that is relevant to the company learnt from University. The initial learning curve is steep, fortunately everyone is on hand to answer ANY questions you have or direct you to a member of staff who could answer this for you.

Support arguably is one of the busiest departments in the company. If you aren’t resolving an issue for a customer, you are learning new things about the existing system or software in general to aid you with future problems. The truth is, it’s down to you; how confident/outgoing you choose to be will relate to how heavy your workload is.

Responsibility has a direct correlation with how much you are willing to learn. Half way through the placement I had as much responsibility as the permanent colleagues. Initially, as a placement role, I wasn’t expecting this much responsibility but I guess they are always pushing you to hit the ground running and I feel like this invaluable for future job prospects. I took part in numerous in house projects which aided the company in some form or another and was key point for customers on a day to day basis.

A lot of what I have learnt is specific to the Prospectsoft software environment, which unfortunately means if I don’t use the system again, I have no need for. Fortunately, the general concepts of how the technical side works definitely is transferable. Having expressed concern for this, they allowed us to use 10% of working time for personal projects for the company. This exposed me to new technologies that I wouldn’t have previously known existed or used. Personally, a lot of the transferable technical skills were developed out of hours on my own time but if I was on a stuck issue or didn’t understand a concept, members of the development team were always willing to help with this. Towards the latter half of the placement, most of the time spent was spent refining soft skills such as communication, problem solving and teamwork which aren’t explicitly taught at University.

The atmosphere in the office is relaxed and friendly, due to the size of the company, you get to know most people really well and can get up and speak to them if you are stuck on a specific issue. Food is regularly brought in for all to share and a pool table is present in the support office for games during lunchtimes.

The role starts with a familiarisation day which outlines the process of training, once in the role, they assign tasks depending your technical competence. By the end of the year, you should be able to perform at the same level the permanent staff do. Help is always available and the transition phase when you took over from previous year was done with ease.

The role starts with a familiarisation day which outlines the process of training, once in the role, they assign tasks depending your technical competence. By the end of the year, you should be able to perform at the same level the permanent staff do. Help is always available and the transition phase when you took over from previous year was done with ease. Working for a smaller business during the placement year exposes you to more challenging environments and as a result better prepares you for the future..

Considering the main source of employment within ProspectSoft comes from its placement scheme, provided that you have proved yourself throughout the year, you have a higher likely hood of retaining a job offer after your role here than most other organisations. Working for a smaller business, I felt more valued as a placement.

Staff members here regularly plan activities such as games nights and more physically demanding activities such as trampolining (l learnt how to do a front flip this year as a result!). Additionally, other departmental social activities such as going for a meals, BBQs and nights out in Oxford regularly pop up throughout the year.

I was fortunate enough to get a placement close to home. As a result it was a fifteen drive into work thus my living costs were minimal and socialising costs dependant on the activity present. Internal activities such as games nights were fun and spent nothing, other external activates you were expected to pay for yourself.

Stokenchurch, the little village where the company is located, has a sparse night life but the closest town, High Wycombe, is adequate for the task. I would recommend Oxford as there is a club available every night of the week and sporting activities with the company are available depending on what day of the week it is.

Numerous activities were made available depending on the day of the week, examples being the 5 aside football, badminton, games nights. There are also monthly occurrences of activities such as trampolining. There is a pool table and Xbox, both causes competitive spirit within all participants to come out. Additionally on Fridays (Beer Fridays) everyone comes together to partake in the company quiz.