Information Systems Analyst Review

The variety of work I was given during the placement - all of it genuine project engineering work - kept me engaged and stimulated. Being able to travel as part of the placement really added something to the experience, and it would have been much harder to enjoy the placement without it (I was based in a fairly quiet satellite office with just one other student).

As with previous placements, I felt very welcome in the office and onsite. Many of my colleagues - from management down - took an interest in me and the work I was doing over summer. On multiple occasions I was praised for the business benefit I delivered, and many people were interested to hear how my work could help make their roles easier.

Working in a satellite office with Project Engineers who manage a wide range of works makes it difficult to arrange the regular one-on-one meetings that you'd typically have at Head Office. As a returning student this suited me fine as I was already familiar with the company and the placement process, but I think it would be quite challenging for a first-time placement student. That's not to diminish the support available from the Power Academy team in Warwick though - they're excellent.

My workload did vary as the placement went along, with my manager allocating more work to me as he became more familiar with my style of working. Some days were quite quiet, but there's no-one policing your working hours so if you're at a loose end you're free to head home - just along as you deliver on your overall objectives at the end of the placement.

The work I was doing was genuine project management, not a pointless project dreamed up just to keep me busy. I was also given a lot of responsibility on the production of an internal awards submission, which I managed. As on previous placements, the work was mine to manage and to take ownership of, which really helped to make the placement enjoyable and rewarding.

I'm just coming up on my final year of university (read: loads of group projects) so the project management skills that I've started to develop over summer will be extremely useful over the coming year. My improved knowledge of business processes and project delivery will also help me in future positions, either within or without National Grid.

During this placement I worked in two different offices - one, a large office on an industrial estate which was mostly unoccupied, the second, a small, modern, managed office in the Aztec West business park near Bristol. Whilst the move to Aztec West was an improvement, the small size of the office and the nature of the work done there (i.e. lots of people in and out for meetings, some very quiet days, lots of people transiting through) didn't exactly make it buzzing. However, the chance to travel to different National Grid sites helped to make up for this, and I did go out to dinner with my managers, so all-in-all it was decent. Just the office itself which wasn't great.

There were some administrative hiccups (mostly IT issues) which seem like big issues when you're only in the company for eight weeks, but overall the placement was well organised. We attended a Welcome Day at Warwick with all the other placement students, attended the Power Academy seminar, and had multiple optional/broadening events arranged for us, including site visits. I've never had a placement manager who wasn't expecting me, didn't know what to do with me, or who wasn't receptive to feedback.

In the first week of the placement I was given onsite safety training at a substation. I attended a presentation training session at the Warwick office. My manager and a great many other employees were more than happy to talk to me about my development and graduate scheme options. Training and development is one of the strengths of a placement with National Grid, and you can feel the focus on it from all sides, even from outside your placement team.

As I'm typing this I'm waiting on a phone call regarding the graduate scheme. If I'm offered a place, I'll definitely take it. The people I've met, the work I've done, and the quality of the three placements I've been on have made the possibility of a future role at National Grid very appealing indeed.

Spending evenings and weekends with the other placement students really adds something to the placement experience. It was harder to do that this year, not being based in Warwick, but I still managed to see them occasionally. As there are fewer people in the Aztec West office, it's harder to get that same social aspect, but I did still go out for dinner with my managers, so it wasn't all bad.

£450/month for a room in a houseshare which we found on spareroom - a bit pricey but it did the job for eight weeks. Getting in to Bristol proper was cheap, although drinks in the city were fairly expensive. I've had cheaper placements, but the summer salary is enough that you don't have to sweat over your financial situation.

Dead. Bristol was ten minutes by train and you have options there, but Stoke Gifford has nothing to offer. The suburb, as well as our office, are set up for commuters and no-one else. You really need a car to get to work and anywhere interesting.

Some out of work events, but your options are limited over such a short period, and as I've mentioned, there aren't really enough people based in Aztec West to offer many options on that front. The office could barely form a five-a-side game. A lot of the company groups/societies are based in Warwick, and that hasn't yet trickled down to Warwick. The situation might improve, as Aztec West is a very new office. As present it's not ideal though.