Summer placement trainee assistant Review

This was dependent on who my supervisor was and how busy I was. All the projects I visited were very enjoyable to see and work on, however sometimes a lack of work load and not knowing who I could ask for more made it a struggle to progress in any way.

My supervisors and all staff at the office were very welcoming and made me feel part of the team. When I completed work I was often given feedback to show how the work was valuable to a process/project which helped me see how I could add value to the job.

This was dependent on the supervisor. During some weeks there was lots of guidance, however in others I would be left with not much to do. This was often due to my supervisor being very busy themselves, which also created a problem as it was difficult to sometimes reach them for more work.

Often did not have enough work, found it difficult to ask for more when my supervisors were away at meetings for example. Part of this is probably due to my lack of previous experience/knowledge/skills which means I had limited usefulness. Supervisors tended to want to give me interesting work so would not always give me basic work (such as taking minutes in meetings) to fill the time which sometimes would have been useful.

I was given a good amount for my level of experience and abilities - felt responsible for each piece of work I completed in terms of doing it properly but didn't feel pressured to complete anything that was out of my depth and all my work was checked over before being used for anything so overall responsibility went back to my supervisor always.

Lots of good transferrable skills. Improved Excel use through lots of use and a variety of trackers/plans that I would have to make. Learnt about correct professional interaction with work colleagues. Improved time management which will help with managing my deadlines for different university modules.

Everyone was friendly and welcoming and I was able to get to know most people's names fairly easily. Staff events such as Staff Comms and informally organized nights run by staff themselves were also nice. Even those who were much higher up in the business made effort to make me feel welcomed

This was dependent again on who was supervising me on a specific week but overall it was a bit disorganized. When I first arrived in the 1st week I wasn't assigned a line manager or supervisor so it took some time to settle. However, some weeks were really well organized and I would be given an agenda for the week to be able to really see a progress by the end, this was thanks to some really helpful line managers.

I was able to be exposed to a wide variety of projects and sectors so I have gained good experience very quickly. The placement induction and review days were good to feel a sense of where a placement could lead to in Mace. I was included in any invitations to outside of hours/work events to prove I was 'part of the team'.

there are lots of opportunities to progress within the company depending on your ambitions and where your interests lie - eg location, job roles and promotions. the grad scheme is appealing as it offers a stable graduate opportunity and personal development for 2 years so give you a good start in a construction career.

There was a good social atmosphere among placement students at the induction and review days, however being in an office outside of London did mean I felt cut off from the placement programme for most of the placement period. Events at my office did create a good social scene locally

The Cost of living is in my opinion quite affordable, due to my office being situated outside of London. Socializing also very accessible financial wise. However, there can be higher travel costs involved for social events as public transport links are not as good as in areas such as London.

There are some nightlife opportunities in the area however there weren't frequently events at the company that would lead to necessarily going to them.

Yes. There were charity events that you could volunteer for. Even further, you were encouraged to find your opportunities in charitable work, that the firm would assist you with financing/running. There are events such as quiz nights, team weekends and charity runs that are frequently run or attended, with participation encouraged for all.