Business Development Exceutive - Heathrow Operations Review

I had a great 11 months working for British Airways on the Head Office Business Placement Scheme. I was welcomed into a team and given real responsibility throughout my year. I worked with senior international stakeholders from other airlines and was able to lead projects.

My colleagues welcomed me like a normal employee. They valued my opinion and took my ideas seriously. I made very useful business contacts and also was able o bond with my team and the wider graduate community on social level away from the office.

Placement students are given a buddy who is a graduate who has also one the placement scheme. This person good to talk to about getting used to working life and any issues you had that you weren't comfortable going to a senior manager for. There is then the placement manager who looks after your development in the scheme as well as your line manager who is I charge of your on the job development.

he amount you were worked depended on the placement you got. I was lucky in my placement that I had lots to do and I worked in a very busy environment. BA on the whole is very open to flexible working and trusts its employees to get the work done when it suites their personal needs.

I was given huge responsibility. I took a lead in projects in my department and was given the responsibility to carry out my role and complete tasks with autonomy. I was my departments representative on some very high profile, high stakes, cross departmental projects.

I will definitely take away the work ethic that was instilled in me and apply this to my studies. I gained confidence to give my opinion and input into situations that before I would stay quiet. BA taught me about the importance of preparation and I now apply meticulous preparation to all aspects of my life.

The office was sociable yet got the work done. In times of disruption and high pressure the office was a challenging environment. Senior managers recognised that in periods where there was less pressure, colleagues enjoyed to talk and joke about more. This was rewarded with high intensity focus and hard work when it was needed.

Overall the scheme was run well. There were times where the speed of responses was frustrating. One annoyance was that you do not find out your placement until you arrive on your first day, so you really do not know what to expect. I feel like this is avoidable if the team were more organised.

The investment in training was endless. We were able to take up any training we wanted to. I took courses in recruitment, influencing and presentation skills along with role specific skills such as Airside Driving and learning how to operate the aircraft marshalling system. The base level of mandatory training every employee has to complete is very impressive.

As a Head Office Business Placement student, you are given the opportunity to interview for the Future Leaders Graduate nearing the end of your placement. I did this and was successful. One thing I think could be improved is allowing Business Placement students to fast track onto BA's other schemes such as commercial and finance graduate schemes. These are more appealing for some of the students.

The Placement cohort got on well. We organised our own socials and even completed charity events together. Placement students are also included in all Grad events such a forums and graduate socials. There is a Graduate Committee at BA which is responsible for all this and they work well.

London is expensive. BA pay a standard placement salary which you can live on. There isn't much extra to play with for socialising. Being based at Heathrow, outside London, the social events usually called for everyone to trek into London. This meant that colleagues who lived the other side of Heathrow were less keen to join.

Around Heathrow itself the nightlife was non existent. But London is great for everything. I'd recommend living in West London between work and the centre of town, somewhere on the night tube.

Charity is huge at BA. There are endless opportunities to get involved with Flying Start and Comic Relief. There are football leagues and other sports tams t play in. BA clubs is a lot smaller than it used to be but there are some interesting activities to get involved in including sailing. There is a gym at the Head Office.