Internal Communications placement Review

My role was within the internal communications team at British Gas Services & Solutions. I was given a project of creating a clear channel map of the current communications used to communicate with field colleagues such as engineers, exploring what the audience wants, what channels we have, the purpose of each channel, how we should best use them, what new channels we should launch, what is external best practice, in order to ultimately provide recommendations. The role involved working with different teams and channel owners to get a clear picture of the purpose of each channel, setting up meetings and reviewing data regarding insights of interaction with specific channels.

The summer placement gave a lot of opportunities to develop skills and focus on personal improvement and reflections. Specific skills I developed included improved communication by working with different teams and exploring different areas of the business, both online and in person, also helping me build new relationships and networking skills. Working online with new software such as Poppulo email and looking at insights allowed me to develop data literacy. The opportunity to present and publicly speak throughout the placement also improved my competency and confidence in public speaking.

Yes, I was given a personal project from the start of my placement and my manager encouraged me to work iteratively on this throughout the nine weeks. The project I worked on involved an important project for the internal communications team, however if I did my placement again I would like to have some more responsibility, although I understand this is difficult in such a short space of time. I also feel that the balance of work responsibility and the expectations from the charity challenge add up to being a good amount of responsibility for the time frame.

I felt that I received a lot of support throughout my placement, even before the assessment centre there was plenty of support and this continued throughout the placement. I felt that support was available from [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] and [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] throughout the placement if needed, and I felt that my manager was supportive, and helped introduce me to wider members of my team which was helpful when my manager was busy with other work, which I was respectful of.

I definitely appreciate the company culture at Centrica. From the beginning of my time here I have felt welcomed by all the grads, talent team, other placement students and from the team I worked with day to day. As one of the core values, the emphasis on collaboration was definitely apparent in the everyday working atmosphere at Centrica, which definitely appealed to me and I felt that I fitted in well with. Everyone who I came across at Centrica had a very welcoming and positive attitude and gave a very positive atmosphere at the company in general.

I very much enjoyed my placement with Centrica from the start to finish. I enjoyed working with my team to create my internal communications project, but I also enjoyed working with my charity challenge team where we were given the opportunity to raise money for a chosen cause. The focus on care at the company added to my enjoyment as I felt many colleagues I met made an effort to ensure I felt welcome in the company and added to my enjoyment.

Yes

I would recommend others to be themselves in the interview process and try and enjoy the experience as much as possible, whilst also taking the opportunity to learn. At the assessment centre I recommend listening to other opinions and be proactive in asking questions, which is something I took with me to the placement and found very valuable. If I reapplied I would definitely look into the company values and culture a lot more as they are very apparent since I've started here.