Project Assistant Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my Industrial placement with Mace. During this year I have been able to get involved in a variety of projects and have also been given the opportunity to experience different job roles including Project and Construction Management. Mace were very supportive in allowing me exposure to different business units within the company.

This varied from day to day. To begin with when I started my placement some of the days seemed to drag as I didn't feel I was given much work. However after a couple of weeks and once I was familiar with my project and what was expected of me, my workload drastically increased. It was never at a point that I couldn't cope, but for the remainder of my placement my days were booked out. You certainly appreciate it if you get the opportunity to leave the office early!

To begin with I was not given much responsibility. This was expected as I had to familiarize with my job role. However the more experience I gained the more responsibility I was given. It wasn't long before I was arranging site visits and walking contractors around site. What was good is that I could always ask for more work or responsibilities.

My degree course is Property Development, whether I did a placement in Project Management. The technical skills I learnt won't necessarily help me with my studies. However the soft skills I developed such as communication, time management and people management will be incredibly helpful for back at Uni and after my degree.

Generally in the office the atmosphere was great. Although I can not speak for the London head office as I was based regionally and out on site. Everybody was always chirpy, even if somewhat stressed but I've realized that comes with the role. Friday's generally have a little more of a buzz about them!

From the very beginning the set up was good. As soon as Mace contacted me with an offer it was only a matter of weeks before I received my offer letter and contract. Everyone was willing to help, and if for whatever reason my Line Manager wasn't able to give an answer for something I was only a phone call away from the London team that could provide support.

Generally Mace have been great in training. I have completed an array of training over this year both internally and externally to aid me in my role. I had requested some additional training which was refused but the reason being that it is a mandatory course for all graduates, so I may be doing the training if I return.

The thought of coming back and working for Mace full time is very appealing. I have definitely got the imprsession from this year that Mace's future is looking good. My only concern, and it is a personal one is that there may be a requirement to relocate or move around a lot depending on the job role. But that is something I will face as and when I need to.

Down in the Winchester office there is a pretty decent social scene. If its been a crappy day, or perhaps a day for celebrating there is always someone willing to go to the pub after work. As far as organized social events go, London always seem to have social events going on which you get invited to, and there has been the summer and Christmas annual parties which were great nights out.

I was living in WInchester during my placement, as I was based in the Winchester office. it is quite an expensive place to live with a socialize in particularly if you want to live within proximity of the train. To get to London at peak times cost about £75 return which isn't great. But if it was for work reasons they would cover the expense of this.

Haha... not great. Well Winchester is Winchester. I don't live here for the crazy nights out, but more for the peace and quiet. As previously mentioned there is always a pub you can call home for the evening. And there was often invites to go to London for social events but I rarely made the trip up.

Mace have a great volunteer day scheme, where by they pay for you to participate in one volunteering / charity day per year, and the volunteer options are diverse, in fact you can even suggest your own idea (approval needed). I was fortunate enough to participate both in 2018 and 2019. On amore social side I arranged a couple of golf days with guys from the office which was good to socialize with people not on a work level.