IT Placement - Service Desk Review

Overall I enjoyed my time at Newcastle Building Society. Having a full time job was something I had never experienced before I got this placement and it was a great way to get involved a workplace. As well as this it was good to see how a business of this size operates and there is a number of things I can take away from this year which will not only help in my final year of uni but also beyond that.

During my time on placement I felt very valued by my colleagues and it didn't take very long before I felt a valued member of the team. All of the colleagues I worked with were of great help and always helped out when I needed it. The work I was doing was the same as everyone else's and I didn't feel like I was put on a different task or role just because I was the placement student.

I feel like I was given a good amount of support and guidance by my manager during my time at NBS. We regularly had chats and meetings about what I could be doing next and for the most part was able to give me support. This however could vary depending on whether my manager was busy in meetings or not. Other members of the team were more than happy to give me guidance when this was the case.

For the most part it was a good balance however there was a few occasions where the workload was overwhelming and was hard to focus on one particular task. There was almost never a time where I had nothing to do so it was very rare that a day felt like it dragged. I would have liked to have had more time to spend on a particular project or task but this wasn't always possible.

I was given a very large amount of responsibility during my placement and was involved in a number of important tasks that were crucial to not only the service desk but the IT department as a whole. During these projects and was also given good amount of range for what I could do within them. It was great to have been given this amount of responsibility and was one of the highlights of the placement.

The skills I developed during this placement for the most part will assist me not only in the rest of my degree but also beyond that in a graduate job. These skills included things like communication, team work, project management and time management. All of which are very important in most aspects of life. Completing a placement during your university course is a great experience and definitely sets you up better for final year with the skills you pick up.

Overall the general atmosphere in the office was good and pretty much everyone was very friendly and supportive. I have made some good friends with the business and everyone was easy to talk to. Everyone working from home was a struggle at first and this brought it's own challenges that I wouldn't have seen if I was working in the office for my full placement. Everyone did their best to help out and tried to stay as positive as possible.

The placement was well organised and there was a good amount of communication in the run up to the start of my placement. I was given a clear timetable of what to expect in the first few weeks. I would have liked to have been given a little bit more training on a few aspects of the service desk but I did pick up a lot of things as I went on. This extra training would have gone a long way at building up my confidence in the role.

There definitely seems to be opportunities for future employment within the organisation. At the time of this review I am currently working part time at the organisation and this will continue throughout my final year. They also seem very encouraging of being able to move to other parts of the business and not just stick to the same job all the time if you don't want to. Hearing from other people within NBS gave me a few good examples of people who have moved up in the business.

Newcastle is a great city and offers a wide range of things to do. As well as this Newcastle is relatively cheap when it comes to cost of living in comparison to other major city's. The city includes a wide range of bars and restaurants and is known for how friendly the majority of people are in the city. There is a wide range of student accommodation around the city and prices are affordable when looking in the right place.

There was a number of different opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. This included socializing with other placement students and being involved quizzes when everyone started working from home. I was also involved in a volunteering day with other placement students where we helped out at a local British Heart Foundation shop. It was good that the society allowed for everyone to have this opportunity and helped us have a day away from the office.