Economist Review

My placement year was very enjoyable, the team I worked in was great and the people were very supportive. My line manager was a great mentor, always happy to help and willing to spend time going over things and answering questions. I liked the relaxed atmosphere of the office and there were lots of other placement students too.

Working in a team of four, I felt my work was highly valued by the end. My line manager set me the same kind of work as my fellow colleagues and it felt like everyone was treated equally in terms of workload and difficulty level.

I was supported inside my team of four but also more widely within my analyst division and amongst economists. I was never scared to ask questions or seek for help. My line manager was especially supportive and very hands on. He liked to have regular catch ups to see how I was progressing and quarterly review meetings.

At the beginning of my placement I wasn’t very busy, our team didn’t have loads of work on. Two months in the workload increased a lot when we started a three month pilot project. Over the year there was about four busy periods and some periods where there was little going on.

I was given lots of responsibility, in my second month I was almost leading a pilot project. Later in the year I had my name published on a set of statistics. My line manager was keen to get me to present on all the projects I worked on and take as much responsibility as I was comfortable with.

Although the job used very little economics, I learnt a lot about data analysis which will help me in my dissertation in final year. I learnt how to code and my excel skills have improved a lot, this will help when it comes to collecting data and looking for patterns.

The office was fairly relaxed, there was always small conversations going on which sometimes ended up involving everyone nearby. There were lots of students and graduates around so it felt quite lively and exciting. The dress code wasn’t strict, sometimes there were complaints about the noise levels but overall it was a good atmosphere.

In some ways it was well set up as you could tell they receive a lot of students each year. However, I was without a staff number for the first week and without a laptop for the first three weeks. The student coordinators put on lots of events throughout the year which are helpful.

In my placement I was able to attend lots of training courses, including SAS training, excel training and also attend events outside of work such as select committees in parliament and seminars and lectures at thinktanks and charities. My company and my line manager encouraged students and all colleagues to attend things like these.

The GES let us take the economic assessment centre in June during our placement year, so if you pass this you have a graduate mainstream offer. We were the first year to be able to take this assessment centre early, it’s a great opportunity and everyone at work was keen to help with preparation for the assessment centre.

There was a good social scene amongst the students and within the division I worked in. We went to the pub a lot and the Christmas parties were good fun. The student socials died a bit after the first few months but picked up again in summer.

I lived at home so it was easy for me to save money. Commuting was expensive but it was the cheaper option. Lots of the other students did the same.