Market Analyst Review

The placement at BASF was thoroughly interesting throughout. During my year I worked on over ten projects all of which completely different and allowed me to develop a range of skills. Moreover my manager helped us get out of the office as much as possible to see different parts of the business and help us better understand how the company works.

From start to finish the people I interacted with were all incredibly kind, helpful and interesting to talk to. I completed work for a number of different people from managing directors to entry level sales people. All of these were incredibly grateful for the work and importantly, used the work I provided which also made me feel valued.

My manager was very helpful throughout. He had been with the company for many years and that was clearly visible through his knowledge of everything to do with the business. He was also fantastic at breaking down anything scientific in to simpler language for us business based workers allowing to complete all projects. He was fantastic throughout.

I would describe the work environment as perfect. As a group we were always busy but at no point did I feel unnecessarily stressed. Our main job was completing projects and as soon as one project is finished there was always another one lined up so we were not short on work ever.

The thing I was most surprised about after starting my placement was how much responsibility I was given. Within the first week I was completing work for senior management such as the commercial director and managing director. Some of the work I produced was used in meetings with key people in many different positions such as MPs and other directors.

Lots of the skills I have developed during my placement will really help me during my final year of studies. I have greatly enhanced my microsoft office skills, especially excel. I think the main thing I have learnt is good time management skills and a far better attitude towards work. I feel next year I will be far more likely to attend all my lectures and revise throughout the year.

The general atmosphere was fantastic. There was a great blend of old and young staff all of whom got along with each other. There was an excellent community of apprentices and interns all working in different parts of the business allowing us to speak to people our own age and discuss any problems we had with each other such as university coursework.

The placement was very well run. Within our first week we had been introduced to all of the senior managers within the office and had half an hour to sit down and find out about their roles within the business. There was also time put aside for us to meet people of our own age group. If anyone required any help with things like finding a house they were quickly given advice by someone in the know.

The future prospects are changing all the time. While I was there a graduate role was introduced and there are plans to introduce more. On top of actual graduate schemes the company is open to employing recent graduates in to normal full time jobs so there is definitely ways to get back in to the company.

The simple answer to this question is yes. All in all there were around 15-20 students or apprentices working in the office and we all got together on multiple occasions across the year. As we were all students we had similar interests and as such organising things outside of work hours proved easy.

The area it self is close to several places known to be a good night. It is just a short journey away from central Manchester which is an obvious location for a good night life. On top of that there are places like Didsbury, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge all of which are slightly more upmarket but excellent places to go for a drink.

There were several opportunities to do things outside of normal work activities. Every Thursday there is five a side football at a near by pitch. There is also corporate tickets available with some interns going to football and cricket games. Other activities include golf lessons, and the desk to 5k which was very popular with the staff.