This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
-
The Company
-
The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I really enjoyed working at Enterprise Holdings EU HQ and am glad this was where I got to spend my placement year. I met the most amazing people, made friends for life, and gained experiences that I never could have learned at university. Overall, an amazing year I would recommend to anyone!
Colleagues genuinely made me feel like I was part of the team. I got involved with meetings and team activities from the very beginning and was allowed to take time to learn, and was eventually trusted with things such as training new team members even though I was an intern myself.
Line manager support is was present throughout the whole year, with regular 1-2-1 meetings scheduled every week in which we went over my workload and made sure I wasn't under or overworked. I also had a mentor I could talk to about anything else I needed, such as when I was preparing for a presentation and needed feedback and practice.
At the beginning it seemed a bit disorganised because it didn't feel like there was a set plan for me, but as I got further into the placement and took on more initiative I was never in a position where I had nothing to do. I was also allowed to develop skills in areas I could choose.
I was given enough responsibility that various processes relied on me, but not too much that I felt pressured things would fall apart if I made a mistake. I was entrusted to train new team members, set up meetings with stakeholders, lead meetings, and give regular project updates to stakeholders.
The skills I developed have made me feel more well-rounded, as I got to develop both technical and soft skills. Overall, I am more confident heading back to university and feel I can tackle even the modules which would normally intimidate me, as I now have the experience of undertaking real-world projects which encompassed every stage of the software development project life cycle.
The Company
Lighthearted atmosphere, generally not dull as everyone was chatting and getting along with each other which I enjoyed, but also quiet enough to be able to get work done when needed. One of Enterprise's values is "Our doors are open" which was true for each employee, especially senior management who were always happy to answer questions.
Didn't seem well organised to begin with, as the project my team was working on hadn't even been approved yet. But as time went on, things fell into place and the big picture became clearer which allowed the whole team to be able to collaborate and work together really well.
I was given access to online training tools which I could use to develop skills in areas outside of my role during my spare time, or even to help me with my project-based work. A Hackathon was also held which was nice to participate in as I learned a lot about an area I'd never investigated before.
Flexi Time
Sports and Social Club
National Travel
Company Parties/Events
I would love to return to the company but they do not offer graduate schemes for my role, only for the Management Trainee role, which is good for people interested in that field but this means I would have to return to the company in a full-time role when a position opens.
The Culture
Yes all prospective interns got put into a group chat on Facebook before we started so we could all meet and get to know each other beforehand. We ended up getting a house together which was nice as we could learn about how everyone was getting on in their own departments, and it was much easier to organise nights out and things to do.
Egham was expensive in terms of rent for our house, but aside from that I think it was generally normal as with any other town. There aren't any clubs or shops, just a high street with Tesco, Waitrose, Superdrug, Boots, a couple of coffee shops, charity shops etc. and pubs which were nice to go to on a Friday after work.
No nightlife in Egham. The closest clubs were in Windsor which are really fun but also very expensive. Egham has a couple of pubs, and one student pub for Royal Holloway students, which are actually quite nice after work as it's a good way to wind down after a long week.
There is a gym just up the road from work, a woman's Zumba class on the high street, and the occasional fayre on the high street. I mostly stuck to the gym, even though it was quite expensive (£35 a month - student price) because it was close by and had good classes.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
South East
September 2018