Industrial Placement Student Review

I have very much enjoyed my industrial placement. I was apprehensive of working full time for the first time but the role I was in and the support from the people around me allowed me to settle in very quickly and gain the maximum I could from my year in industry.

I have always felt welcome and included in the team during my placement. At first, I wasn't given much responsibility due to my lack of knowledge in the industry. However, as my placement progressed I was becoming more trusted by my colleagues and was given more and more interesting tasks and responsibilities from a variety of departments.

I was assigned a very experienced supervisor who had been involved with many areas of work within the company, and therefore had many contacts. They were able to use their contacts to constantly provide support for me throughout my placement. I was provided with consistent support from them not only in the professional environment, but also personally.

My work load varied from day to day and by week to week. The team experienced extremely busy periods where demand was high and periods where the work was less demanding. Even during the quieter periods I always had something to do. During the busier periods, the work never became too stressful as long as I managed my time well.

At first, I wasn't given much responsibility due to my lack of knowledge in the industry. However, as my placement progressed I was becoming more trusted by my colleagues and was given more and more interesting tasks and responsibilities from a variety of departments. I was allowed to become involved in some very important tasks which made me feel valued.

The skills I have developed during my placement are invaluable and will be transferable across all aspects of my working life. These skills will definitely enable me to successfully apply for positions in the future, wherever that may be. The training I have received is useful but very industry and company specific, therefore if I were to gain a role outside of EDF, it may not be as valuable to me as the skills I have acquired.

The atmosphere within my team was very friendly and upbeat. Everyone was very supportive and wanted to get the best out of each other. The experience of the team helped me during my placement as if I ever needed help of support, there was always someone around with relevant knowledge to help me. The company thrives on teamwork and communication.

The work placement was very well organised from the beginning and throughout. The bonus of working for such a large company like EDF is the fact that they do employ many young people and industrial placement students every year. They are used to knowing what the students require both before and during their placement and if you need any help with anything during your time there, it is very easy to ask for support from the company.

EDF Energy invested very heavily in my training during my industrial placement. The first few weeks consisted of lots of training sessions and reading of specific pieces of work in order to increase my understanding of the company and the way it runs. This training was needed in order to understand the many acronyms used at EDF and the way in which the processes work. I was provided with further training throughout the year.

The future employment prospects at EDF are very appealing, mainly due to the size of the company. EDF have many sites across the UK therefore there is plenty of chances to relocate throughout your career. There are plenty of chances to move to different teams in different departments within the company due to the wide range of work that is necessary. EDF allows you to not only progress through their company, but to also progress personally.

There are plenty of fellow placement students and colleagues at EDF that are all willing to gain something out of their placement outside of work. They all want to get to know you and organise social events outside of working hours in order to maintain a healthy work life balance. The positive side of having so many placement students in one place is that there are people to share a house with if you need to relocate.