IT Analyst Review

I enjoyed this placement very much, It gave me a great insight into the real world and what life after university will be like. Each day was pretty much different and I was excited to come into the office. The teams within the business are friendly and inclusive, I never felt ostracized.

Everyone here really make you feel like you are part of the team, you almost forget you're a placement! They were never condescending in their approach and included me where necessary. They are really friendly and are willing to engage in meaningful conversations about career path and the future of the industry.

The amount of support I received was very good, they really allow you to develop your skills first before committing you to any tasks. I had several weeks of training when I first joined and no pressure was put on me. On the rare occasions when I was stuck, everyone in the team were more than happy to help!

This depends on the project portfolio and what team you are in. I was with the Ecommerce team and the workload was minimal when I joined, so therefore I was giving other tasks within the business like writing requirements and managing tableau dashboards to keep me busy during office hours.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility, but there were times where I had nothing to do for a prolonged amount of time, but that gave me time to explore other interests and for personal development. I was also able to start thinking about my dissertation for my final year of university, thus giving me a head start over my peers.

Coming from a technical computer science background, the skills I've developed, and training I received will not be of much assistance with my degree, however it will be invaluable in the future for my career. I have gained a good insight into the industry and have a firm idea of how I want to shape my career.

The atmosphere within the office was very relaxed, you are given a task and left alone to focus on that task. Colleagues usually bring in a variety of exotic snacks from all over the world! If your calendar is free you are allowed to go for a snack or drink at anytime.

The work placement setup is very well organised! The company have been running this scheme for a couple years so they already have a plan for you before you even start! depending on the project portfolio you will be given a variety of tasks and wont be stuck doing minimal/repetitive tasks.

There wasn't very much investment in personal development, you have 1-1 meetings with your placement supervisor, where you can bring up any issues, concerns or requests. However, if there is a course you want to undertake or any training then it would probably be approved by speaking to your manager or supervisor.

The organisation has a grad scheme which is very decent and pays a decent amount. However, there is only 1/2 roles in IT available for graduates and the roles are for IT analysts. The company does offer a share scheme, annual bonuses if targets are met and employees have the opportunity to travel to different countries for business.

They is a very good social scene! there is a group that organises events weekly, bar crawls, meals, skiing you name it! it is entirely up to you if you want to join them, they send out emails to invite you and are more than happy to have more people join them.

I worked in Peterborough. The costs of living and socializing was quite cheap, and if you choose a good location for your house (I lived near town) then most things you need are within walking distance, thus eliminating the need for transport which obviously saves you money on the long run.

The night life was very boring in my opinion, There is only one club with three rooms but the good room where everyone goes only open on Saturdays and even then the music sometimes can be ridiculous! if you like pubs then there are plenty of them available. The only decent place to go is Turtle Bay for cocktails

There is a social group committed to organizing activities outside of work. For example, here in Peterborough the company owns a box in the ABAX stadium (the local football team) and they sometimes give out free tickets to employees for the football games. The also organize things like bar crawls and skiing trips.