HR Placement Review

I enjoyed the placement very much. There was a clear structure, from day one. I have received a thorough induction and every day I felt like I was a part of the company. I was also given a lot of responsibly and had been a part of many projects some individual and some group ones.

I felt very valued. I was treated as part of the team. I had weekly meeting with my manager, to talk about the different projects, I was involved in, and had weekly meetings with the team to discuss, any issues and progress on different projects we were working on together.

I was given a lot of support by my manager and my team. I had access to the intranet where I could find any information, and a great team which i could ask for help at any time. My manager was also really helpful in my one to one meeting where we would track my progress.

Depending on the projects I was involved in, it varied. During busy times I would be working very hard to meet deadlines and complete projects. Other times, when it was a bit quieter, I could concentrate on completing my university work and develop personally. Overall, I always had something to do.

I was given plenty of responsibility, as I was completely in charge of the project I was doing. This involved planning the project, implementing and giving feedback. I have also provided future placement students with some instructions on what to do, which I have found very helpful when I started.

My skills developed massively and this includes both soft skills, such as communication or listening, and hard work related skills such as using appropriate software to carry out tasks. I have also developed many skills such as collaboration and teamwork, by working with different departments on different projects we were involved in.

The atmosphere was good. The company had flexi-time regulations, which meant that people could work at different times, so sometimes it was very quiet, which was helpful in doing some analytical work and sometimes it was busy (during the core hours) which was good for working on projects together as a team.

The organisation of the placement was outstanding. I had a clear plan of what I was going to be doing at most of my placement with some free time for personal development as well. This was very helpful for me as I could focus, on future and current projects I was working on.

The company has invested in my a lot. We have had some external training and a two day residential trip, where we could interact more, as a group of placement students. The company took around 20 placement students. There was also some internal training available, on the software that we were currently using.

The future prospects are possible, depending on the area and subjects studied at university. Some of the placement students, which were in the intake year with me, have been offered graduate positions, starting after university. These were mostly offered to Engineering and Business students, due to the focus of the company.

There was a very good social scene amongst any fellow placement students. We have been asked to do a project together which meant we could work as a group. We have also organised some social events outside of work, and met up on regular occasions, which was very fun to do.

The cost of living is expensive. There are a few local towns around, with supermarkets , but the local transport is very over-priced so a car is very beneficial. A taxi to the closest bigger city, which is Bath is probably around £30-60 depending on the time of day or night.

The night life was fairly poor in the area where the company is located. The nearest bigger city, with the potential to go out is Bath - around 25 minutes on the train, or Bristol, which is around an hour away. There is a also small club in Chippenham, 20 minutes away on the bus.

There were some opportunities to get involved in some activities outside of work, such as joining a gym and playing badminton, which was organised by some people at work. The area has also many great cycle line and couple of swimming pools in the area, as well as a shooping centre.