HR Summer Placement Review

The work placement gave me great insight into the responsibilities of a HR Generalist, and I gained a lot of commercial awareness about Centrica, British Gas, the different business units, and the electricity and gas industry as a whole. The environment was very friendly and welcoming, and I made friends with other interns and colleagues at the company. The workload varied depending on what was going on in the company, but it is highly encouraged to speak to other parts of the business to understand their work; so I managed to fill in my time by learning more about Centrica.

I felt like my work added value to various parts of the business, and that my work was appreciated by others. My manager always explains to me how my work wil be valuable to others, which encouraged me to do my work well. Colleagues are genuinely nice and friendly, so it is always a nice feeling to go into the office every day. Everyone is really helpful and they want me to do well, and it is encouraged to ask questions when I don't understand what I am doing. Most colleagues are very interested in what I have been up to before the summer placement, so I feel very welcomed in the company.

My manager was extremely helpful, and was very kind whenever I was not sure what I was supposed to do. She gave me a lot of exposure into the business area we were supporting by organising trips to various offices as well as letting me speak to various people in the business. I was welcomed to the placement with a small amount of work, but after I found my feet, she adjusted my workload so that I would always have something to do. She was also very friendly and I always felt comfortable to ask any questions, however silly I felt it might be.

There were days when I would be busy from 9-5, and there were days when I would be free all day. The workload varied from day to day, so at times it left me wishing I had more work to do. In my free time, I would typically read up more on the different business areas in Centrica and what was going on in the industry. I would also sit with colleagues in other parts of the business so that I can have exposure to their work. Overall, I learned how to manage my time by ensuring I meet my deadlines when I was busy, but also to fill in free time with useful activities.

I had a large project which I was given full ownership of for the whole placement. It was completely down to me to ensure everything was done as I had no team members, and my manager for this project trusted me to do this work on my own. So I had great responsibility to ensure that I contacted everyone I needed information from and analysed the data accurately. Besides this project I also had some HR Generalist work that was a precursor to bigger projects, and again I was given a lot of responsibility to complete these on my own. My manager gave me a lot of guidance on what I was supposed to do in the beginning, but once I started working on the project it was up to me to complete it.

I definitely gained a lot of skills that will assist me in my degree as well as my future career. One of the biggest things I learned was business communication and managing upwards, as my role required me to speak to a lot of senior colleagues from different business areas. I also gained a lot of awareness of the company and the industry, as well as a greater understanding of the different areas within HR. As this is my first 10 week summer placement, I found it very useful just to get into the routine of being in the office, which helps me to understand the transition from student to full-time worker.

The general atmosphere was just the right amount of relaxed and business-focused. Everyone at the office knew what their responsibilities were and would do their work when they were at their desks, but they were also very welcoming when you would come over to speak to them. As there were a lot of summer interns in my office, we would also have at least one event every week, as we were all trying to raise money for charity. Thus, the doughnut and samosa sales were a welcome break from work. Overall, people were focused enough that they did their work, but also relaxed enough that I never felt under stress which I was at the office.

The graduate team did a brilliant job structuring the summer placement. We had an induction to bring everyone in the beginning, and we also had events throughout the placement so that we could touch base with each other. There were a lot of training sessions for different skills, e.g. excel training, team building and presentation training, which helped me in my work. 10 weeks in my opinion is a perfect amount of time to get a lot of things out of the placement, and the graduate team organised events so that we had training in particular skills when we needed them.

Personally, I felt that the training was brilliant, as we had a lot of events where we got skill-specific training. I also had events specific to HR to inform myself on the different HR areas so that I would be going into the graduate scheme with more awareness of what areas I am interested in. I had a lot of help and guidance from my manager and colleagues as well, as I felt that they would take time out of their day to explain things to me and assist me in the projects I was working on.

The graduate team are very keen in rolling you off into a graduate scheme, and they encourage you to show your best selves in the placement. Unless you say so, you are definitely considered for the graduate scheme, which means future employment is almost guaranteed if you get the summer placement. All you have to do is perform your best during the summer placement, and make sure that you enjoy your work and the company.

All the interns are very friendly and there are always events going on in the company. We were also all living together in the same accommodation so we would sometimes meet up in each other's flats to chat and hang out. My fellow colleagues were also very friendly, especially the other grads in my office. They were always very helpful and I would sometimes have lunch with them.

The office was based in quite a pricey area and I could not afford to go out every weekend. The subsidised canteen was better than expected, but I still had to bring packed lunch from time to time because I could not afford to eat there everyday. The good thing was that with Centrica, accommodation is paid for by the company, so that saved me a lot of money during this summer placement. I didn't have to worry about finding a place and paying for that place.

It was a cab ride away to some clubs but they were quite pricey. Thankfully most of us were living in the same accommodation so we would all hang out in each other's flats. The accommodation was close to some pubs but we were in a family-oriented suburb so most pubs were quiet by half 11.

We were involved in a project to raise money for charity so we had a lot of opportunities to volunteer and fundraise. I spent several days out of work to volunteer for charity events as well as running a doughnut sale. Some other colleagues also did various food sales and volunteered at gardens, schools and other events. There are also employee networks that were running events throughout the 10 weeks I was here, e.g. the Pride March and Dementia awareness.