IT Placement Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year. The placement year enabled me to take what I had learned in my first two years at university and put into practice in an enterprise. Every day during my placement I was learning new skills and improving on my current skills. During my placement I had the opportunity to work with and learn from subject matter experts, helping improve my current skillet and learn many new skills. Even though I had projects to do, There was multiple opportunities to go and learn about the company as a whole.

I always felt valued by colleagues and that I always able to help and put forward any ideas, even as a placement. My colleagues made it easy in order for me to to contribute and put ideas forwards by encouraging you to do so and seeing if anything you have learnt at university so far could help with current projects.

Throughout my placement my manager and supervisor were always available to help me with any concerns I had and support me with my work. Both my manager and supervisor pushed and encouraged me particularly at the start of my project to get involved in as much as work as possible and opened doors for me to get involved in work with new people to build my network and learn new skills.

It depended on the time of year and the life cycle of the project I was working on. I was always busy in the sense that there was always work to be done or get involved with. However I never found myself having to spend longer then the business core hours.

During my placement year, I was given different responsibilities for various projects. However the most notable responsibility I was given was being the lead for a web server project from start to finish. By being given this responsibility and working on other various projects at work it enabled me to gain/develop skills in planning and organisation, and being able to juggle multiple projects at the same time, including how to plan accordingly to meet deadlines and get the right time balance to spend on each project. Taking responsibility for the web server project from start to finish incorporated coming up with a 6 month plan, presenting skills and many other skills that have been very valuable for taking towards final year of study.

The skills I have gained from my placement year greatly assisted me in my final year of study and in my career. It enabled me to improve my report writing and presenting skills and these skills were fundamental in my final year. Taking part in work meetings and working on projects with other colleagues gave me the confidence and opportunity to present and voice opinions in groups and this was crucial for when presenting my final year project and group assignments in my final year of study.

The atmosphere in the office was welcoming, relaxed and in formal.

The placement was well organised. The placement was planned and structured with you as an individual in mind to ensure that the department and team you worked in was right for you and that you were getting what you wanted to learn from the placement.

The company during my placement send me on a few courses in order to develop and gain new skills from technical IT courses to professional development.

Future employment prospects are there within the company. After completing my placement, I was offered to return to Network Rail on the graduate scheme, as long as I gained the required degree mark.

During placement there were many opportunities to get involved in social clubs etc. The company also encourage you as a cohort to get to know each other from the beginning and work on projects together also. During my placement some placements and graduates played in an internal 5 a side football league.

Milton Keynes is not the most affordable areas to live in whilst on placement. However there are many towns and areas around Milton Keynes with no longer than 30 minute train journey.

The nightlife was not the best in the area I worked. However there were some bars and pubs to go to to socialize with work colleagues.

Yes, the company encouraged to go and explore the company as much as possible and during my placement allowed us five days to get involved in charity work.