Sandwich Placement Student Review

Fisher German is a cracking place to work, the workload is very interesting and I am kept busy. I also found that I was made to feel relaxed and like part of the family the minute I walked in through the doors on my first day. The social life is great despite Corona, I often pop up and have a socially distanced chat with colleagues of my own age. And when we aren't in lockdown we often go to the pub on Fridays.

My colleagues are great, very friendly and will always help if you need it. They are also very good at congratulating you on work well done, and will help you to improve any new work you undertake. I have never been made to feel bad about a piece of work I have done that wasn't quite up to scratch.

Having had no experience in rural surveying of any kind, it is quite nerve-racking walking into an office for the first time and not knowing what to expect. The work can be hard in the first few weeks and you often feel like you are a bit lost. This is just part of the learning curve however, and nobody minds if you ask questions (a very large number of questions in my case) to help you though some of the more difficult stuff. I have been advanced at the right pace and have never felt stressed or too hard-pressed I have already been in contact with my APC doctor and am on the road to an up to date diary. I have also had an online seminar (given to all placement students) telling me exactly what I need to know about my APC

I am busy 95% of the time. However occasionally there are days where the work load is low or you run out of jobs. This isn't a major problem and is often solved by just dropping your line manager an email asking for some more work. There is also training to complete and managers often don't mind if you just want to work on your APC when there is nothing else on.

As I progress through my placement I am given more and more responsibility, I have already started taking small meetings on my own and the office workload is getting more and more varied. If I feel like I am ready for more I just ask my manager and he will introduce me to something I haven't done before or get me involved in another project. It is important not to push to hard to fast because you learn as you go and it is possible to overreach yourself.

This is not relevant to me yet however I can say that already I know without my placement I would be miles behind my contemporaries in fourth year. Listening to my friends and their reviews of their own placements, I would say that Fisher German is a great place to work and anyone would be happy here. You are based in a team and as a result will get a lot of work in that area. If you want to get experience elsewhere it is down to you to be proactive and ask for work from other departments. You get help from your APC doctor without this however you need to be organised. This isn't a bad thing, you just need to be willing to make the effort.

Very good atmosphere. Every one gets on and is supportive of your needs. Market Harborough is lovely because it is an older office and therefore you get to know everyone in your team very well in a team based office (not open plan). Unfortunately with Corona there are no bonding exercises/sports. However I know that if we are allowed to I will be joining the Fisher German Cricket Team next year and enjoying social events such as the Christmas party.

Very well organised from interview to my first day, they adapted for Corona Virus well, pushing my placement back a few months months. I would say that I could have been kept in the picture a bit better in those months with more regular correspondence concerning what was happening, as I had no idea how Corona was going to affect my placement. It is understandable however, given the pressures all businesses felt in the summer from lockdown.

They fund me through all my professional development courses, and pay for professional memberships, e.g. CAAV. They also assigned me an APC doctor who I can talk to whenever I want about anything worrying me concerning the APC. I would say they invest in my development to the best of their ability without coddling me.

It is a bit uncertain and no promises are made. Some years they offer take on the majority of placement students after graduation and some years they don't. If I am offered a job after graduation I will definitely take it.

Yes as above, and it would be very good if not for corona

I was paying £560 a month bills not included for a nice flat on the edge of town. It is quite expensive but your wage more than covers it. I would have liked some better communication from Fisher about other students/graduates starting in the area so that potentially I could have had a room mate and lowered costs.

N/A

N/A but there would be corona virus aside