Consultant Review

I found this to be a really valuable experience. The company is great to work for, and I was given lots of opportunities to show my skills and develop not only these but new ones too. The teams I worked for were extremely encouraging and were happy to have me work alongside them on both essential and non-essential work.

Everyone was so welcoming and happy to answer any questions I had. I made lots of friends during my placement - both students my age, and those who had worked at the company for 20+ years. Each team I worked with welcomed me with open arms, and I never felt undervalued or ignored due to my status as a placement student.

I had many managers/directors who were responsible for me, all of whom made sure I was happy and getting as much experience as I could. I was always listened to, and my thoughts/criticisms were always taken on board and re-iterated to the relevant people. I felt like a valued member of the team, and I never struggled to figure out where I was going next.

There was an abundance of work to be done - even though I was a placement student, I was treated like a regular member of the team, meaning there were few restrictions on what work i could do. More experienced members were happy for me to shadow them and their work, meaning that I was constantly learning even when i wasn't physically doing the work.

Personally, i was given lots of responsibility. I ran meetings, held presentations, reviewed documents, helped with the administration and sat in on high level meetings. The team I was on wanted me to gain as much experience as possible, so I was given high level responsibilities meaning I had lots of opportunity to prove myself.

I gained and developed so many skills during my placement. In terms of interpersonal skills, i had lots of opportunities to run meetings and teach others, as well as interact with people from all levels of the team. I developed my technical skills through the work I was doing, which will help with my studies during my final year. My time management and organisational skills were pretty good, but I managed to develop them to a professional level.

The atmosphere was great - it felt like one huge family! New people were joining all the time, and everyone just fell into place straight away. I always felt comfortable, like I could go to anyone with anything I needed help with. Other teams were welcoming too, and there was lots of social events - meaning I met lots of people from all over the department.

For me, the placement was set up really well. I had lots of freedom to choose what areas I wanted to work in, and the team had lots of ideas in place for things I could get involved in. I was constantly learning and getting involved with different things - it was never dull!

I was given lots of training and opportunities for development, both personal and technical. Anything I took an interest in, I was supported to learn more about it and work with it. There were training systems in place, meaning I could pick from a large variety of subjects and incorporate it into my daily work.

I would love to return to the company. While job offers haven't been made yet, I'm working as hard as I can to prove that i'm a good candidate to come back. I got my placement extended (not a common occurrence), meaning I have more time to gain more experience and make an impact on the team.

I was a member of the sports and social club - this meant I went out to lots of events (mainly in London) and interacted with a lot of people. I got to see Hamilton in the West End - easily one of my favorite social events! As placement students, we met up a lot to go for meals together and nights out. We had a group chat too, meaning we could support each other.

Being so close to London (within an hour by train) meant I spent most of my free time there - surprisingly cheaper than i'd originally thought! My flat wasn't too expensive to rent, and there were plenty of restaurants and things nearby to do with people. I had no issues with budgeting for social events, as we all tried to make it as cheap as possible.

The town itself was quite quiet, but I spent a lot of time in London with friends (both from work and outside of it). The social club put on events in the town, things like an open bar at the local Wetherspoons and cinema trips to the next town over. There was always something to go to.

If anything, there was too many! I often found myself in the situation of having to choose between two events - there was everything from charity sports events to STEM camps at local schools. There was opportunity to help interview new placement students, as well as initiatives to help work on something for the company.