IT Business Analyst Review

I didn't know what to expect coming into a professional working environment, I was even sceptical about the placement experience itself. However, having gone through the entire journey I think it was one of the best decisions to pursue and undertake a placement. At MSD I was provided with a range of different opportunities that forever, put a mark on what I want to become in the future. The skills that I learned will greatly help me throughout my final year journey and pursuing graduate opportunities thereafter.

By engaging with people from cross-functional teams I quickly built professional relationships but also genuine friendships. I knew I could come to anyone if I got stuck with a task/project, but at the same time, I was very happy to help anyone on site. I felt valued on multiple occasions especially when delivering key strategic projects.

At MSD a lot is emphasised in an open culture where most people will maintain an open-door policy should you need any help completing the tasks you are set. I feel that the support and guidance given is exactly what you need to be able to undertake projects and after all develop the skills by engaging in the experiences that you've possibly never encountered before. What I would add is that sometimes it may feel like you've been given the biggest challenge in your life with some starting points and guidance but may still feel stuck. Over time, as you gradually build relationships with different cross-functional colleagues, you will interact with people who can guide you and subsequently allow you to identify areas which will help you to complete tasks/projects.

Right from the get-go, I was surprised to find out the number of projects/tasks I could be involved with which made my time at MSD very valuable because it provided me with unchartered opportunities of learning new skills and developing as a person. For me, this is very important coming back into the final year and understanding the areas that I need to work on before exploring graduate opportunities.

I would say that at times I was given an unexpectedly high level of responsibility and trust that my decisions and judgments will be what's right. Sometimes students are afraid they will not be doing much or won't be allowed to work on projects that make an impact. I am glad to say that everything I was involved with had a positive impact on my development, including being given responsibilities to work on key strategic projects contributing to the overall success of the company.

I think that the skills I developed will be invaluable in helping me to kickstart my career after university. There's so much that I wouldn't have known if I had never undertaken a placement. To the fellow students, I can say that it's easily one of the best things you can do as part of your university journey. It allows you to test yourself in a safe and supporting environment and understand if you are following the correct pathway. Furthermore, I think it allows you to identify your weaknesses and ensure that you continuously improve to become better at everything you do. At the same time, you learn how to leverage your strengths whether it be people skills or technical ones I think that it's one of the most valuable skills.

The general atmosphere in the office was great. Of course, every person has tough days to face during a period that's more than 12 months long! However, we knew when the priorities had to be understood and taken seriously but we also had time to have fun and get to know each other on a more personal note. This goes not just for the team I was part of but MSD as a whole.

I think because I was based in a smaller site where the placement intake wasn't as high the downside was a slight disconnect from other sites where they've seem to of had more activities such as free volunteering days and lunches with the leadership team. However, I know that this year this has changed and students from other sites are involved in everything. Aside from that, I think that everything was set up the way to help you develop. Placement is a two-way interaction - the more you put in, the more you will get out of it.

I was given opportunities to undertake some professional training, such as getting to know my insights profile which helped in leveraging the personal traits I have into how I communicate with different people across the organization. Aside from the professional training, I was given guidance to understand and apply some professional frameworks which will help me in my future career.

There isn't really a clear pathway for my role (i.e. Graduate Schemes) or they are infrequent (i.e. not run every year) to fully understand the future prospects of me being employed in the same company. However, based on my placement experience it's a company I would be very happy to come back to after university.

I may repeat myself from another question, but as I mentioned before, given that the intake of students wasn't as high as in some other sites I think that the social aspects of the placement could have been better. However, you will have a range of opportunities for socializing with various different people as the company is full of diverse individuals!

The costs are as you would expect for an area fairly close to London. You can find some house shares which is what I did and what I would recommend to other people as well, they will be reasonable and with some luck, you can find some really nice houses! You should probably still set some money aside regularly to help you with budgeting but it's totally doable.

The nightlife is not particularly exciting in the area aside from a few nice restaurants. For a true nightlife experience, you should probably position yourself (or end up) in London.

There was a reasonable amount of opportunities to partake in activities outside work.