This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I did enjoy my placement, it was in a very interesting area of the business, and was a very different placement than my previous one. The work I was given on my placement was very hands on and practical, and allowed me to plan and arrange my own work around objectives I had been given
I felt very values by my colleagues. I was included in team meetings, and offered opportunities to experience other areas of work that the team carries out, and while this did not directly relate to my placement objectives, it still provided some valuable experience within the buisiness area of my placement
I was very well supported by my manager, with biweekly meetings to check up on my progress, and give me the chance to ask questions / advice on any issues I had come across. The overall management of the summer placement was good as well, with a clear timetable for the placement.
I was reasonably busy, with some days where I was on a work trip for several days with a lot to do, and others where I was in the office with less immediate work sometimes. Overall I was kept busy, as there was always stuff that needed to be done in the long run, providing something to do.
I was given a lot of responsibility. My placement objectives were given to me at the start of the placement, and then I was allowed to plan all of my work trips to meet these objectives myself, and arrange when I would be travelling, when I would visit certain sites, and how I would record, analyse and present the data I had gathered
The skills I have developed in this placement will be very valuable later on, as I have developed and strengthened my planning and organizing skills, as well as my project management skills. I have also developed my communication skills, both written and spoken, as I have produced technical documents and presentations.
The Company
The general atmosphere in the office was quite good. There were a lot of empty desks around my area, however my department for this placement was quite a small team. The facilities in the office are good however, with zip taps on every office space to provide boiling and chilled water.
The summer placement was reasonably well organised, with a week at the start of the placement dedicated to training, which provided a useful starting point for the placement, as well as allowing us to meet the other placement students, building our network of people within the company before we had even started.
The company invested well in the students, as there was a week spent at the company's national training centre, dedicated to just training at the start of our 8 week placement, with more time spent at the training center for those on 12 month placements. This provided a good start to the placement.
Subsidised/Company Gym
Working from home
Future employment prospects with this organisation are very good, as the Power Academy placement scheme I am on is very helpful for those wishing to seek employment with the company after they graduate from University. Students are often given the opportunity to move onto the graduate scheme in the company on graduation.
The Culture
There was a good social scene amongst the other placement students, with some of us meeting outside work to go on nights out / trips away to places around the area, and sometimes further. Students on the program together regularly discussed how we were doing on our placements, and this helped anyone who had an worries or questions.
The area is quite expensive to live in, however there are some slightly cheaper options for accommodation in the area if you organised to share with other summer placement students. Often however, the short length (8 weeks) of your rent can be a barrier to finding accommodation. There is no allowance / accommodation provided by the company.
The nightlife is okay, with a variety of bars and clubs in the town centre, however they ae expensive. Most drinks are very expensive and a lot of places will charge for entry. I personally did not go out a hige amount, as my accomodation was a bit of a distance from the town center.
There are a lot of good opportunities to get involved in activites outside of work, as there are quite a lot of site visites organised by both fellow placment students, and organised though Newnet, which is the company social network for new starters. They send out invites to interesting trips often by email.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
August 2019