This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
-
The Company
-
The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
My placement year at Golfbreaks.com is easily one of, if not, the best year of my life. The support I received from the company, which stretched from the head of directions, management teams and also colleagues in my team, will always be massively appreciated. Golfbreaks.com do not view you as a student, but as a full-time adult that must carry responsibility to deliver results and help the team reach its targets. This is a win-win situation, as I have accumulated a host of skills that will help me in my future endeavours and final year at university.
The support given at Golfbreaks.com is probably one of its highest attributes. They view you as a new employee, so always strive to make you feel welcome, which isn't hard due to the sociable atmosphere within the office. There was always someone I could discuss any questions or worries with.
As said, the support given at Golfbreaks.com is probably one of its highest attributes, which also applied to the management team. My manager in particular has helped develop me into a much stronger individual that I will be forever grateful for. Managers have a huge amount of responsibility, so if my manager was busy however, I could always speak to a senior member of the team to help me.
Golfbreaks.com expect their placement students to reach the same work levels and results as a full-time employee, so you do have a lot of work to deal with on a daily basis. Although this can reach high levels, it is down to you as an individual to keep control and organise yourself accordingly.
You are essentially doing the same job as your full-time colleagues, so you have a lot responsibility on your shoulders. Your manager sets you different monthly targets, however expects you to meet these expectations. Moreover, you also deal with a host of clients on a daily basis, so you must ensure they are happy with the service provided.
My year at Golfbreaks.com was filled with personal achievements, building your soft and work skills, while also developing your confidence and help realise your ambitions for future targets. I feel my placement has left me in a much better mindset to tackle my final year at university than if I did not undertake a sandwich year. Before my year at Golfbreaks.com, I had expectations to scrape a 2:1. Due to having such a successful year and also understanding the importance of work ethic, I now have ambitions to achieve a 1st class degree.
The Company
The atmopshere in the office was great, there was never a day where you felt like you did not want to come into work. You were more or less guarenteed to have a lot of laughs throughout the day. Nonetheless, it was not all fun and games, as you were still expected to work at a high standard and deliver results. This was not a problem, as Golfbreaks.com kept the balance between work/fun brilliantly, as you had a great laugh and also had lots of support from your team members.
Golfbreaks.com have won awards from RateMyPlacement in the past, so they are clearly one of the best companys to undertake a placement year with. There was a strong empthasis on training and helping you understand your role, so the transition between starting and becoming confident was seamless. You also got the opportunity to move between different roles within the company, which again, was very easy to do.
The first month of your placement is just training for the year ahead. Your role requires a lot of knowledge and understanding, so there was a hugh empthasis on training. Throughout the year, your manager or senior member of the team would discuss your positives/negatives from the month and identify ways to improve you. This happened on a monthly basis, so there was always an opportunity to develop your skills.
National Travel
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
Above 25 days holiday
The Culture
I have become friends for life with the students I taken the placement with, while I rate the full timers at Golfbreaks as great friends too who I will be sure to keep in contact with. There was always laughs to be had at work and outside of it, while there was never any tension or arguments between people. I can't rate the sociability at Golfbreaks.com enough.
As you are based down South and not too far away from London, expect to pay a high amount for basic things like food, rent and beer!
There are plenty of pubs around Windsor, which is great. However if you wanted a longer night out, Windsor didn't really offer much. You have the 'Arches', which has a few bars, but they're not the greatest. The closest night out you can have is catching the train & tube to London or paying an excessive taxi to Reading.
There is a good enough group of people at work for you to organise things with, it's just the matter of who steps up and does the organising! I ran a fortnightly football game so always has something to look forward to. There is a gym next door so you can always use that too.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
South East
August 2017