Facilities Management Review

It was good at times. I had 5 rotations of 2 weeks and three of these rotations gave me valuable experience and responsibility. The other two rotations were quite boring. I enjoyed experiencing different offices but felt awkward asking for work when I had finished a task. I did gain valuable experience communicating with others and building professional relationships.

I felt valued by my colleagues throughout my placement and felt part of each team I spent two weeks with. My line manager, although a busy woman, kept in regular contact and replied quickly to any queries I had. I have received a couple of thank you emails and felt the teams I worked with valued my work and my enthusiasm!

I was given minimal guidance by my supervisor as she wasn't on the various different sites with me. This meant I could choose my own hours and the bosses I was working for didn't have much accountability for making sure I learnt or had a valuable experience during my time with them. This was okay in some situations where the different site bosses were keen for me to help but other times meant I was stuck doing reception or making teas.

I was often bored. Whether this was because I had finished a job and my supervisor was in a meeting or the work I had been given was boring. Because I only spent 2 weeks at each site, it was difficult for the managers to understand my capabilities and give me any meaningful work. This could have been better but I also could have been better and asked for more work (which I did as much as I was comfortable with).

For 1 week I was an acting Team Coordinator and created meaningful reports and sat in on important meetings, taking minutes. Another week I spent preparing a new onboarding process for the company and during my time at Mace I saw how this work was going to affect the business in the long run.

This placement did not relate to my degree so waste of time in that sense. However, having to go to different sites every two weeks meant I was constantly having to introduce myself, go to new buildings and build professional relationships so in that sense it has given me skills for life. In terms of confidence, it has pushed me to be more independent and put myself out there but I still have a way to go. Being in any work environment gives you an appreciation of people skills, managing teams and managing expectations so this really benefited me.

Because I was in 5 different sites, this varied massively. 3 out of 5 placements were fun and I felt like I fit into the office and would chat to my colleagues throughout the day. Another of my placement was quite dull, no one in the office chatted and I didn't make any strong relationships there. However the main office had a friendly atmosphere and I had lunch with my colleagues a couple times.

It had the basics - induction, reviews with my line manager and an end of placement review. This was all good and I always knew what I was doing and where I needed to go. However there wasn't a formal feedback system where I received feedback from each 2 week placement so this could have been better.

I did a number of e-learning modules and had a good extensive induction on the first day. This was really valuable but could have been followed up with some reminders to refer back to our targets and what we set out for ourselves in the beginning. After the first week, there wasn't much specific training, just on the job learning from what I was doing.

Unfortunately the job role that I had a placement with wasn't for me but that doesn't reflect on the organization. They are a friendly team who all want you to succeed. The emerging talent team are very helpful and really valued our feedback at the end of placement review. This was encouraging as they are trying to improve their grad schemes all the time and I would happily work for this company again.

I had zero interaction with my fellow placement students after the first day, except for the end of placement review where we had drinks after a presentation. Drinks in the first week could have encouraged friendships to be made and then we could have kept in contact over the summer. Unfortunately, none of the teams I worked with went out for drinks or anything while I was there so this meant I didn't do any social events the whole summer with my company.

Train costs me £13.80 per day and I am living at home. Socializing is typical London prices but I have been only a few times so have managed to swallow £18 for 3 drinks a couple of times. It has been quite off putting to pay £13 for a gin and tonic and so I haven't tended to socialize in the area I have been working in.

I haven't experienced the nightlife so I don't know what is around here. Hence the score of 5 (neutral)

Not that I was aware of. A charity challenge started whilst I was working but I would only be at the company for a quarter of the time so didn't get involved in this. An option for a volunteer day was explained at the beginning but this didn't come to anything for me personally.