SEU IT Placement Student Review

I enjoyed my placement at AstraZeneca tremendously as I was given the opportunity to participate in several company projects with real impact. My colleagues and mentors were fantastic and a pleasure to work with. Even when I was working on a project or in a role I did not think I would pursue a future career in, I still learnt many valuable skills and gained much experience about working in an enterprise environment.

My colleagues at AstraZeneca were all extremely approachable and supportive to me throughout my placement. I did not feel and was not treated as an inexperienced junior at any point during the placement. All of my colleagues helped me to settle in and gave plenty of valuable advice to me throughout the year to ensure I felt included as part of the department and their teams.

My manager/supervisor was extremely supportive, arranging to meet with me to catch up every week and being constantly available for consultation and advice. My other project-specific supervisors and mentors were also extremely helpful and welcoming in providing me with guidance and support whenever I required it of them.

As I was assigned to various projects throughout the year I had plenty of work to occupy me. At one period between January and March there were times I had nothing much assigned due to this time being a transition period between projects, but I managed to find tasks to occupy myself. Even at my busiest period where I was working on three different projects at once it was rare I felt overwhelmed.

I feel that I was given the right amount of responsibility in all of my projects throughout the placement without feeling too out of my depth or undervalued. At first I started out learning from my mentors and supervisors, who gradually pushed me into more roles of responsibility such as leading meetings and being a main contact for stakeholders. During my last project of the year I was working independently on a software development project which would contribute a large amount to the company.

All of the experience I have gathered during my placement year has been extremely valuable. Even when I was working in projects with roles I do not think I will pursue a career in, I immensely appreciate what I have learnt from them. I have greatly expanded my skills particularly in communication, presentation and project management, all of which I hope to bring to future jobs and projects.

The office atmosphere varied depending on the site, but overall it was fairly relaxed. There was hotdesking in most of the offices so there was never a sense of being isolated or unable to approach others. Most of the time everybody was focussed with their own work but there was a pleasant atmosphere and mingling and chatting to others even outside of your department or team was encouraged. There were also colleagues who organised break room snacks and socials to help everybody unwind and become friendly with one another.

There were definitely a few noticeable organisation problems during the placement, but it was mostly due to internal company affairs and not the fault of the organiser of the placement. I was able to move between several projects without much difficulty aside from one period where I had very few tasks transitioning between one project to another.

The company offered plenty of workshops and events as opportunities to learn and expand my skills and knowledge of other areas outside my immediate domain. My supervisor also helped me to form a list of personal development goals which worked within the company and its values that I could refer to throughout the year.

I would not be averse to returning to work at AstraZeneca in the future. I enjoyed the environment and much of the work which I did, although I feel perhaps the company is moving away from the job roles and types of projects which I would be interested in working in (software development and programming). Despite this I would not mind returning or trying to work in a different role such as as a software architect.

There were only two placement students during my year including me, but we were able to interact with the previous year placement students before they left. The previous placement students helped us to settle in and were great sources of advice and guidance in our initial weeks. I was able to interact with placement students and apprentices in other departments and teams too, which was also enjoyable although I did not see much of them outside of brief encounters in passing at work.

Cambridge is a somewhat expensive place to live in with high rent if one wishes to live in an accessible and connected part of the city. Lower rent comes at the cost of inconvenient travel options unless you are willing to sacrifice time on the road, or if you cycle or drive (which can still take time). Travel for both leisure and commuting can be pricey too, as is eating out.

I did not really go out much at night during my placement (personal choice). Many shops tend to close well before 6pm but there are a few places to that remain open if you know where to look. If you happen to have friends at any of the Cambridge colleges though it's worth attempting to attend a formal or one of the May balls/June events. Shows at the theatres are also good, especially the student-run ones which tend to be inexpensive but still very high quality.

AstraZeneca has a club which puts on events such as bowling, cinema trips, punting hire and also discounts for shows and shopping outside of work hours. There is also a fair amount to do in the Cambridge area yourself if you look around and keep an eye out for adverts or ask some of your colleagues who might live in the area and have some suggestions.