Contract Support Officer Review

I have, so far, really enjoyed my placement at National Grid. I have been challenged and given plenty of responsibility which has hugely helped my development. It is great to be able to use the theories and knowledge learnt as part of my degree and apply them to the work I do everyday.

I was made to feel like a member of the team on my first day. My line manager made sure to introduce to both the team I was working in, and relevant people in other teams with whom I might be interacting with frequently. Before I had even arrived there was meetings set up with myself and a senior manager to explain the purpose of the team as whole, and my role within that team. It was clear that I was there to both do purposeful work and develop myself.

I was given a lot of support and guidance by my manager. We scheduled weekly 1-2-1s to keep on track of my development. The programme as a whole is quite structured, with a regular review schedule ensuring that you are working towards completing your placement objectives and to ensure that potential areas which may need development are not overlooked.

It took a little while for the work to get going, but once it did there was plenty to keep me occupied. As with all jobs, work came in peaks and troughs, but over time I had consistent work to complete in regard to both my day job and in working towards my placement objectives. There was a good amount of work to be done, but when structured it was quite manageable.

I found that I was given a great deal of responsibility, however the responsibility that you end up getting is often linked to how much responsibility you take. Although initially given tasks and guided through things this quickly progressed to me completing the day-to-day role with little input or assistance required from my line manager. One thing that I was given responsibility for was a sizable savings target that I had to start, implement, and track. This involved me having multiple solo meetings with the account management teams from the supplier, and co-coordinating things including communications and implementations plans.

The skills that I have learnt will greatly influence both my degree and future career. The on-the-job skills that I learnt give me a basis onto which I can apply theories learnt on my degree for my final year. Some of the skills that will prove helpful in the future include data analysis and excel skills, work planning and time management, communications skills, as well as all the day-to-day skills required for the job.

The atmosphere at the office is very good, the team was all very friendly and my line manager made sure to introduce me to the relevant people. There is a friendly atmosphere within the office, and there is often social things on, such as cake being brought in etc. The business lounge areas within the office give a good place to meet with colleagues and ensure that there is always some atmosphere.

The vast majority of my set-up was done before I arrived for my first day. My laptop and phone were ready for me to start, and I had access to most of the systems that I needed. I did run into a few IT problems towards the start of my placement but these were resolved quickly by the tech support team.

The first two weeks of my placement were held at the National Grid training centre. These focused on initial introductions to the placement scheme and the company itself, as well as personal development training. We returned to the training centre multiple times throughout the year for things such as excel training. At the office, there was a regular allocated time set for focusing on my development. This came in the form of weekly 1-2-1s with my line manager and monthly 1-2-1s with my placement coordinator.

The future employment prospects at National Grid are very appealing. The positive experiences that I have found on my placement year makes it easy to say that I would like to return for a graduate role. Things like the general work culture, the future opportunities, and the training provided all contribute to this.

There was a good social scene, with regular outside of work things organised in the local area. There was a large number of fellow IPs and graduates which meant that there was always people around for social events. There was also more formal things such as the Christmas party for the whole department.

Plenty of bars and restaurants in Leamington and Warwick. Easy rail transport to other places like Birmingham.

There was a lot of sports opportunities which people could join as well as opportunities to go on site visits which you could get involved in. There was also activities such as volunteering, team parties and team away days. On one occasion some electric vehicle suppliers came in at offered test drives of their cars which was an interesting experience.