Digital Applications Analyst Review

I experienced so many great opportunities while working for Mars and incredibly enjoyed all of my placement. My role enabled me to truly provide value in the work I was doing and develop skills across a range of different areas. Being given a wealth of responsibility and degrees of freedom from line management that considered my own views and strengths as an individual meant I had a great experience working for Mars.

As an associate who was really given opportunity to provide input at a team level, I believe my work and voice was very much valued by those that I worked with most closely. In most cases I believe that if you truly challenge yourself, Mars gives you the chance to surpass others' perceptions of the current generation and what a 'placement student' can do, however not all I worked with were willing to share the same level of trust or see the value placement students provide.

From start to finish I was given great support by my Line Manager who set clear expectations, although with some degrees of ambiguity during my placement and guided me through advice and a more hands-off approach which I requested. This helped me navigate a large organisation in my first real-world job role and regular catch-ups as well as the comfort and ability to get advice across-the-desk were both incredibly beneficial.

The amount of work I had to complete was ultimately an agreement between myself and the levels of management and this meant based on my pace, skills and areas I wanted to develop in I was able to keep myself busy at a level close to what suited me best. Degrees of flexibility were always allowed for items of work considered outside of the role, however some ambiguous and delayed tasks did lead to the rare day where I wasn't too busy.

I was given a great wealth of responsibility in my job role at Mars which really helped me understand all about the management of projects, how to work effectively with stakeholders and communicate expectations. Both allowed to fail to learn from my mistakes while also awarded degrees of flexibility I was happy with the amount of input I was able to make in my work, with only odd occasions where I feel I was not listened to.

My work led me to understand my own personal strengths and areas I wish to develop further on based on what I worked on across my placement to an excellent degree. The focus on personal development as well as functional & technical skills during my placement has really helped me understand where I want to go with my final year of studies and in my future career.

A welcoming and open plan office with a relaxed and friendly feel. This makes it easy to approach others, walk up to desks to speak to other Associates in the office and not worry too much about bothering others as it's easy to tell when someone is busy! The coffee area is great and the refreshing environment reflects the good amount of effort the organisation puts into it. Social and office events supports this and nicely matches the 'family' of Associates atmosphere.

Our induction week was very well structured and setup with events and training continuing well into the placement to better understand the organisation and learn different skills. The induction process was almost faultless although despite being in the same position as others on placement, not everyone has the same good experience and we weren't all able to meet after the first day. While early and mid-way check-ins were good, organisation and communication did falter towards the end of the year.

Moreso than the majority of any organisations you will find, Mars puts a great amount of effort into the training and development of its Associates including those on placement. I was encouraged and able to attend a number of training courses and development classes and worked my development through my personal development plan. Due to cost vs benefit I wasn't able to do everything I initially wanted to (PRINCE2) but was generally able to do what I wanted based on flexibility and support from management.

There are a number of different graduate position opportunities within the company and the organisation looks to make a pipeline for talent that encourages those on placement to see if any are suitable for them. However, the pressure required of those coming onto the schemes is high as is the benchmark required to get onto them in the first place. Placement students also get the opportunity to benchmark for a direct entry role which may suit you better. The ability to apply for these and number of prospects can vary between what you apply for and changes year-on-year, and the aforementioned amount of pressure can come across as discouraging.

There was a great social scene in my time at Mars but this can be dependent on the number of others on placement or in graduate positions. If you are always looking to join in at social events you shouldn't find any problems. In the local area there are some vibrant locations and a small number of other colleagues always helped make great nights out even better.

Proximity to London and the more 'premium' areas anywhere outside of a more industrialised location close to that the office lead to a relatively high cost of living and socialising so make sure you leave a good amount of time to look at where to live if you receive a job offer. Transport routes are good nearby but socialising can get a little expensive.

The site location where I worked was very industrial and had little to nothing in terms of nightlife and locations to go out after work, however a little further afield there are better locations to go out with good transport links that do not take too long to travel to.

You can get involved in a number of different activities outside of your normal role and outside the office including volunteering work, sports clubs with those in the office and different events run by colleagues. The team in which I worked held a number of really great events across my placement which I enjoyed but of course this can vary between different experiences. There's a lot you can choose to get involved in and this is left up to you based on your interest and flexibility.