Learning and Development Project Support Officer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed all the opportunities I had whilst on placement. The company is very young which made it easy to fit in with full time staff. I was given big projects to work on and lead, which is more than what a lot of placements offer. I had a good year and felt that my work added value to the company. I worked very hard all year but I think that my work paid off, as I have received very good feedback from people from different areas of the business.

I felt very valued throughout my placement. I was brought in to do projects with different stakeholders in the business and was always encouraged to give my opinion, trusted to do large parts of the work required, given ownership of whole programmes etc. I was treated like a valued member of my team, and never treated like a 'placement student'.

My team and line manager were extremely supportive throughout my placement. They helped me transition from the academic world to the corporate world and answered any queries I might have had. I was assigned a mentor who helped me run through ideas I might have, and gave me guidance as to how to approach certain situations.

I have had a lot of big projects to work on as well as business as usual tasks to complete every day. My manager is very keen on everyone having a good work life balance, so she never expected me to stay in the office late, but when I am in the office I am always very busy.

I was given whole programmes to set up, work on, carry through and be responsible for. this would mean bringing in different stakeholders in the business to help complete the project.

In my placement I have learnt a lot about the corporate world and what to expect in the future. It has also helped me understand how the theoreticals we learn at university might be put into practice.

Most people in the office are young, which means that there isnt a huge age gap between placement students and full time staff. The atmosphere is overall very fun and there are plenty of opportunities to socialise outside of work.

The whole recruitment process is very well organised and communicated, which allowed me to be more confident when i first came in. I was the first placement student that my team has ever had, but they still provided me with a handover and induction that were very helpful to me at the start.

during my placement I had the opportunity to do a one-week Excel training course, a one-week Project Management course, I attended a corporate induction, equality and diversity training, recruitment training etc. I also have access to a few online libraries such as PluralSight, where I can top up on any training if I think I need to.

It has been made clear that if I want to come back to FDM I would most likely be able to. the route of the graduate stream is always open if I chose to go down it too.

This year we had 6 placement students in the London office, and we formed a good friendship very early on. We were also in contact with the other placement students in the Leeds and Glasgow office, who I go to meet when I went to both offices. Most people in the business are very approachable and it is easy to bond with all sorts of people in different departments.

The office is in London Bridge, which is a relatively expensive area. I was living at home so I am thankful that I didnt have to pay rent.

There are plenty of pubs and bars only a couple of minutes walk from the office. Apart from that, the office is so central that it is very easy to jump on the tube to get to clubs.