Risk analyst Review

The placement was really interesting at times and the opportunities for shadowing and personal development days are excellent. I undertook around 3 weeks of shadowing throughout the year on placement which was great to understand where I would like to work in the future. However, the role itself I had was quite mundane, I had to fill my time doing a lot of personal development and getting involved in a lot of other activities which were passed onto me from the previous IP student, without these activities I would not have had a lot to do, there is definitely room for improvement for the actual role.

I felt really valued by my colleagues and I quickly became friendly with a few of the other IP students and members of my team, I don't think I will keep in touch with any of the colleagues in my team when I leave, however I will definitely stay friends with the other IPs. I felt really valued as they supported my ideas and really helped me to develop my skillset and really made me feel appreciated while I worked here

My line manager and senior managers were fantastic during my placement, they were always there to support me and help me during difficult periods of the placement. They were really helpful and understanding to my circumstances and gave me guidance when applying for graduate schemes. They supported me through understanding my role and the ways I could develop my skills and improve how I worked. I don' think I could have asked for better management to give me guidance regarding my future career or choices

On a daily basis I was never really too busy, there were times when deadlines were tight and I became busy on certain days, however for the most part I would say that often I wasn't busy enough and I could have had a lot more work to do to utilise my skill set and capabilities. However for me I feel this enabled me to develop other skills and work out what I wanted to do through shadowing etc so it worked out well for me. I did have to find a lot of work to do to fill my time myself, however I used it for personal development

Of the work I was given, I was given a lot of additional responsibility, as I built trustworthy relationships people were keen to give me extra work and felt I would deliver this well. I think this was the best bit about my placement as it really made me feel good about what I was given especially in comparison to other IPs. I'd say it's really great to feel trusted by other members of staff- the responsibility in the work was great and they were very supportive if I felt I couldn't understand the additional responsibility

The development and training will assist in my degree as I understand now a lot about the practices within the workplace and how it will help me when I go back to university next year. I will also be a lot more wary of time and more conscious about how I plan my future studies. I have also gained a really good background into my future career and how I want to progress, whether that is an internal or external role, I feel it has really helped me develop my skills and understand how I plan to work with these skills in my future career

The overall atmosphere in my office was very quiet and quite intense, it was very daunting as nobody really speaks, I was lucky that I had 2 people to speak to during my placement. I feel the office atmosphere could improve a lot more! I feel like it is hard to get to know people and not many fun activities go on. While shadowing another division there was a much better atmosphere and I got to know these people much better in a small space of time, they held fun events and social events which made the team appeal to me a lot more

I think the placement was organised really well and from the interview I found out I had the role within 48 hours, I then was contacted by my manager and had the opportunity to come in for a day prior to starting, I missed the induction but integration into the team was really good. The organisation throughout was excellent and we were communicated to effectively

The company are really keen on investing in training and development, I had the opportunity to set up a development plan and my line manager gave me opportunities to tick these tasks off as I went through the placement, I was able to attend courses and work with a mentor throughout the year to develop myself personally and undertake any relevant training- the only thing I would improve is to run specific workshops for IP students(similar to how they do for Grads) as some of the other courses I felt a bit out of place

The employment prospects within the organisation are really appealing as you are able to have an interview to be fast tracked onto the Risk graduate scheme, however I think it would be improved if you were able to easily secure roles on other schemes without additional assessment as there needs to be the opportunity to move around the organisation and understand different roles before fully committing to one division- I do feel that it's a really good opportunity to secure a role. There could be more opportunities for permanent roles which aren't on the graduate scheme

I made a few friends while on the scheme, however I don't think the social scene was very good, we did a couple of events throughout the year(lunches and a bowling evening), however I think this depends on the area you work in, a lot of us lived at home or just outside the location so transport options were difficult- however the team spirit could be improved and the company could do more to make sure this was the case

Overall the cost of living and socialising is pretty good- I went out on a few work events and bars and clubs are relatively cheap, i didn't stay in the area for accommodation so not sure about that, however a friend did and the prices seemed reasonably- there are a few cheap branded shops around too.

The nightlife is not very good, there are a limited number of bars (most of which are pubs) and there are 2 nightclubs, so the nightlife isn't very good- however depending on what you like to do there are a lot of nice restaurants, a cinema, gym and a few shops instead

There are opportunities such as yoga classes and volunteering which are advertised on the site, I think that this differs across teams depending on the nature of the team and where people live etc. I didn't get involved in many activities outside work however I did attend charity events and social events within my small team.