Business Analyst Review

Working at Nationwide is extremely enjoyable. There are lots of things to get involved with whilst on placement here and you really do feel valuable. Whilst working here I've been given some amazing experiences and the work life balance is really good as the people who work here are always looking to help you and it makes it a really enjoyable place to work.

From day one, I was given lots of responsibilities and treated as a normal colleague and not just a 'placement student' that you might think could happen at some companies. I was given lots of deliverables throughout my whole time whilst on placement and always given responsibility when appropriate to move things along within my project.

On placement I had many different managers as I worked on multiple projects and all of them gave me the respect of getting on with tasks but would check up on me when completing them and if I ever had questions they were on hand to help me. I also had a line manager who I would report to about how I was getting on in my placement within my project world and outside of it to make sure I had enough work and was still enjoying myself and getting on with everything in the right way.

From the start, I had work to do daily. Even when my project might have been slightly quieter, there are so many projects/events you can get involved in to keep yourself busy. You are given a project from the first day with other graduates/placement students which is really useful to get to know people but also to keep you busy and get to grips with how Nationwide works.

I was given as much responsibility as I thought I could handle. Early on I was facilitating meetings with senior stakeholders for my project and as I got more confident I was opened to larger groups and by the end of my placement I was running workshops that had 15+ senior stakeholders. The responsibility was given if you wanted it and you are never left on your own if you don't think you can handle it and you learn so much from taking the responsibility early on.

I gained a lot of skills whilst on placement and a key one was time management that I will use regularly back in my studies and beyond as you realise how on the ball you have to be to get a project over the line. I also gained key stakeholder management skills that I will use in my degree when speaking to lecturers and in my future profession.

It's a really fun, good place to work. There are plenty of people in the office and there are lots of people to get on with. On your induction you meet all of the other placement students and graduates and form a very good bond with them all and then as you move into starting work you meet lots of different people and will surely get on with almost everyone.

Considering my year was the first time Nationwide had taken placement students within business analysis, it was extremely well set up. I knew exactly who I needed to speak to about problems and workload and was kept on the go with my work to make sure I was never bored and had the right amount of work for me. I was also given support when completing the work I had for university throughout the year which was a massive bonus.

You really feel like the company invests in you from day one and they look to always help you improve in areas that you want to. I personally was allowed to do some personal development within another team outside of business analysis throughout my placement and was supported a lot whilst I was working across two areas for half of my time.

It's a great company to work for and I would definitely look to come back to Nationwide as it is a great company and I know they would really help my career going forward as they do invest in you as an individual and as long as you give a lot you can get a lot out of working here.

Within the first month of being on placement if you relocate to Nationwide there is a lot of support and you are given a hotel and you build a great relationship across all new comers and have a great social scene from rock climbing and bowling to just going out for drinks as a team after work.

Cost of living is as expected in a big town and quite reasonable depending on where you want to live. Personally I lived in Old Town with 3 other graduates and we were lucky in the fact it was quite cheap for the 4 of us. Socialising can be expensive at times but there are plenty of good places that aren't expensive it depends what you are looking to do.

There are lots of places to go to and you are sure to bump into people from work across the different places. Swindon doesn't have the biggest of nightlife's but there are local places such as Reading, Bath and Bristol which are easily accessible if you fancy something different to Swindon one night.

There are lots of things to get involved with, whether that's sports teams that Nationwide run (i.e. cricket, football,..) or there is a choir and a cheese and wine society that meet up regularly. I personally got involved with a rugby team outside of work which was great and there are plenty of people from work who play for local teams if you want to get involved in any.