Honorary Assistant Psychologist Review

I enjoyed most aspects of my placement a lot as I was given some really good opportunities to experience the job area and therefore was able to develop a lot of skills needed for the job. I have therefore given the rating of 8 but it is not a 10 as not all of the jobs were very interesting.

I felt very valued by my colleagues and got on with the ones in my office very well. They were all quite young and I felt I could ask them things if I got stuck. The more senior staff was also very pleasant but I interacted with them in more of a professional capacity

I was given a fair amount of guidance but also left to figure things out independently, which meant I was able to show my creativity and problem solving and develop this further. At some times it was a bit too independent, but I could always contact my supervisor if I needed more help.

There were quite a few days where I was too bored and struggled to fill my time. It made me be pro-active and approach staff to look for opportunities but even while doing this is was still bored quite a few days a week. This is probably quite common in the sector I worked in as the work can be sensitive and can't always be done/observed by placement students.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility but this was built up gradually as my supervisor felt I was able to do it and he trusted that I could manage the tasks. Being given the responsibility meant I could develop the skills needed for the job independently which will be beneficial for future roles.

The skills I gained from doing the placement really are invaluable to my future career and it has been a great opportunity to be able to develop them. The range of different tasks meant I developed a well-rounded array of skills that I am able to translate to different positions.

We had a very fun office because it was mainly people in starter-positions so they were all quite young. I got on with them well and we chatted a lot and organised lunches together and activities after work. However, there was still a productive atmosphere and everyone ensured they got their work done.

Getting the internship was arranged very well as it was in partnership with the university so the application process was very clear. However, the internship itself was very much up to the supervisor and there wasn't anything arranged for an induction or anything. At the end we received some teaching and were able to review our year which was good.

They were happy to invest in me and I was given some opportunities for personal development which have been very valuable and time was invested to train me. However, some things were more restricted due to the NHS and the restrictions on the tasks I could undertake due to it being a healthcare sector.

There might be opportunity for a job there but I am more interested in applying at other organisations. However, doing the placement there will probably really help me to get a position somewhere else as I've had experience in the role which I can transfer to a different organisation with similar roles.

Everyone was very friendly and I got on well with those in my office. The people in my office organised a get together outside of work for Christmas and we also have some lunches in the office together during our lunch breaks or would go for food at some nearby places.

The cost of socialising in the area around the organisation was very cheap but living nearby so I could walk to work was very expensive and because my placement want unpaid this mean I did need to get a loan to be able to subsidise the year which other paid placement students didn't need to do.

There was no night life in the area where I worked but we would go into the town centre if we wanted to do anything special such as the Christmas meal.

There weren't really any activities outside of work but I don't think that is very common for the NHS so I didn't expect this from placement and wouldn't expect that from a job within the NHS at any organisation. This was also not something I looked at as a priority when looking at placements.