Commercial Placement Review

I have really enjoyed my work placement. I have been here for 10 months so far and have been given lots of responsibility and a variety of tasks to complete. I have had the chance to get involved with projects working with other departments and complete EEEC (every employee, every community) hours.

I feel very valued by my colleagues. I have made a lot of friends since being on placement, and I am trusted to help colleagues out with tasks. My projects often involve working with people from a number of different departments, and I always feel like I am given high levels of responsibility.

I am given a lot of support and guidance by management. There are always people willing to help and all colleagues will try to assist me if needed. I can go to my manager whenever I have questions and he will do his best to help me to complete the work.

Although some weeks are busier than others, which can be expected in any placement, there are always tasks which need doing. I have a good level of work, as I often have a variety of projects going on at once, but if I ever feel like I have too much to do, colleagues are always willing to help.

I was surprised with the amount of responsibility I have been given on my placement. Coming into the placement, I expected to be given tasks which would help the company but would not make a huge impact. However, some of my projects have made far reaching effects which has really made me feel valued during my time with the company.

The skills I have developed will definitely help me in my future, both in my final year of university and my career. The company has provided me with a range of training days, and there is also online training which can be completed. I have developed a number of skills and I am very happy that I took on a placement year with the company.

I have always found the office to be incredibly friendly and all colleagues very supportive. There are various work spaces, including normal desks, meeting rooms, and outside areas, as well as sofas and two treadmill rooms. These provide varying levels of noise and allow you to work to the best of your ability.

The placement was set up very well. From the beginning, there were training plans in place for both internal and external training opportunities. Regular meetings with managers were also organised, as well as meetings with assigned 'buddies' to guide placements through the process. Buddies were usually graduates who had been in the same position as the placements a few years ago, which made it easy to relate and ask any questions.

We had a one day onboarding day learning about the values and history of the company. We then had product training with the applications engineering team. As well as this, an external training company was brought in to deliver four sessions, preparing us for presentations, the working environment, how to work in a team etc. Online training courses were available and throughout the year there were also additional external trainers who came in to deliver sessions.