Digital Undergraduate Review

I have really enjoyed my placement. The team and department are all very friendly and made me feel welcome from day one. There is a very relaxed culture in the office which really suited me. One drawback is that aspects of my role did start to become repetitive, but this also challenged me to start taking on more responsibility of new tasks.

I am always happy to help people if they needed support with something- and when I did it was always appreciated. In our department meetings we have recognition 'awards', so your work was recognised and appreciated during these meetings which is good. I felt that I was trusted to take on new bits of work.

Although my manager was very busy, they would still ensure that they made time for me. Doing my reviews with my manager was good guidance as they would help me identify skill areas to improve upon. I felt if I had an issue, or was struggling with anything then I could always speak to my manager.

The role was new when I fist started, so there was no work to handover. This made it difficult as there want any work for me to pick up straight away, so I didn't have much work to do. However, as the year progressed I picked up more work until I was busy enough. This means that the tasks and responsibilities of the role are more set up for next years undergraduate.

I was trusted and given the responsibility to carry out tasks the same as any other permanent member of staff. I think it may have taken a few months to prove that my work was up to the standard that was needed, but this is to be expected coming straight from university into a role where I have no previous experience.

I feel I have learnt many transferrable skills on my placement year. I have had the opportunity to present to different groups of people and also to be able to go on a presenting training course. Presenting is something I will definitely have to do more of at university and after finishing university. I have learnt skills such as communication and organisational skills which will be applicable for university and graduate roles.

The Digital department is based in a separate office to the main building and has a very friendly atmosphere. This means that it is a very relaxed atmosphere, we often had music on and the dress code was casual. In the main office the atmosphere was also friendly although it wasn't quite as relaxed as the Digital office.

Things were organized every few months after work with the whole department, which was good to socialize with people outside of work. As there are quite a few placement students who all moved to the area, the weekend social scene was good as there were always people around to go out with.

Milton Keynes renting is slightly above average which is probably because it is so close to London. Socialising is about average price you would expect to pay in the south, about average prices you would normally pay for food/drinks. However there aren't many student deals because of the low student population.

The nightlife was not great in Milton Keynes. There are a few clubs and bars which are ok and always busy on the weekends so there are things to do. As there aren't many students in Milton Keynes it is quite a difference moving from a student city to Milton Keynes.