Data Analyst Review

The variety of work I was given during the placement - all of it genuine project engineering work - kept me engaged and stimulated. Being able to travel as part of the placement really added something to the experience, and it would have been much harder to enjoy the placement without it (I was based in a fairly quiet satellite office with just one other student).

As with previous placements, I felt very welcome in the office and onsite. Many of my colleagues - from management down - took an interest in me and the work I was doing over summer. On multiple occasions I was praised for the business benefit I delivered, and many people were interested to hear how my work could help make their roles easier.

Working in a satellite office with Project Engineers who manage a wide range of works makes it difficult to arrange the regular one-on-one meetings that you'd typically have at Head Office. As a returning student this suited me fine as I was already familiar with the company and the placement process, but I think it would be quite challenging for a first-time placement student. That's not to diminish the support available from the Power Academy team in Warwick though - they're excellent.

My workload did vary as the placement went along, with my manager allocating more work to me as he became more familiar with my style of working. Some days were quite quiet, but there's no-one policing your working hours so if you're at a loose end you're free to head home - just along as you deliver on your overall objectives at the end of the placement.

The work I was doing was genuine project management, not a pointless project dreamed up just to keep me busy. I was also given a lot of responsibility on the production of an internal awards submission, which I managed. As on previous placements, the work was mine to manage and to take ownership of, which really helped to make the placement enjoyable and rewarding.

I'm just on my final year of university (read: loads of group projects) so the project management skills that I've started to develop over summer will be extremely useful over the coming year. My improved knowledge of business processes and project delivery will also help me in future positions, either within or without National Grid.

During this placement I worked in two different offices - one, a large office on an industrial estate which was mostly unoccupied, the second, a small, modern, managed office in the Aztec West business park near Bristol. Whilst the move to Aztec West was an improvement, the small size of the office and the nature of the work done there (i.e. lots of people in and out for meetings, some very quiet days, lots of people transiting through) didn't exactly make it buzzing. However, the chance to travel to different National Grid sites helped to make up for this, and I did go out to dinner with my managers, so all-in-all it was decent. Just the office itself which wasn't great.

There were some administrative hiccups (mostly IT issues) which seem like big issues when you're only in the company for eight weeks, but overall the placement was well organised. We attended a Welcome Day at Warwick with all the other placement students, attended the Power Academy seminar, and had multiple optional/broadening events arranged for us, including site visits. I've never had a placement manager who wasn't expecting me, didn't know what to do with me, or who wasn't receptive to feedback.

In the first week of the placement I was given onsite safety training at a substation. I attended a presentation training session at the Warwick office. My manager and a great many other employees were more than happy to talk to me about my development and graduate scheme options. Training and development is one of the strengths of a placement with National Grid, and you can feel the focus on it from all sides, even from outside your placement team.

The company has just undergone a restructure and so the ability to be on the sponsorship programme has been delayed for the time being. However having had an opportunity to learn about various aspects of the business, I will be keen to apply here as a graduate once these schemes become more available. The Industrial Placement scheme at National Grid is a direct route into the Graduate programme and is to be treated like a yearlong interview in which you should showcase what you have to offer in order to secure a place on the Grad Scheme.

At the Warwick office there were 8 Industrial Placement Students who met for Lunch every day when we could and also met up after work to go out for meals and drinks. There was an issue with socialising with students that were not based in Warwick as National Grid have offices all around England so travel for these students was an issue. It is also common that you would go for meals for colleague’s birthday and leaving events during work which is great as it brings the team together.

The cost of living is high around Warwick and especially in Leamington Spa, many students chose to rent rooms which cost around £500 per month. However, if you live in Leamington there is a free shuttle bus which will take you to work so travel would be cheap. Leamington Spa is fairly expensive for its nightlife, expect to pay £4 a pint but there is a Wetherspoons!

Leamington has a good nightlife especially when the students from the surrounding universities are around as it makes it a lot busier. There are a couple of clubs but Leamington is mainly good for its bars, which host live music near enough every weekend, and the bars are very close to each other so you won't have to taxi between them.

Some out of work events, but your options are limited over such a short period, and as I've mentioned, there aren't really enough people based in Aztec West to offer many options on that front. The office could barely form a five-a-side game. A lot of the company groups/societies are based in Warwick, and that hasn't yet trickled down to Warwick. The situation might improve, as Aztec West is a very new office. As present it's not ideal though.