Policy Advisor Review

by Department of Trade and Industry

This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.

Rating

3.6/5
  • The Role
    3.8
  • The Company
    3.6
  • The Culture
    3.4

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

    • This was an invaluable experience, working in a dynamic team of people.

    5/5
  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

    • The team made every effort to make me feel welcome, inviting me on numerous away days. My colleagues gave me a lot of support in developing ideas and were happy to give up their time to have meetings with me. They were also very interested in and happy to help develop my data for the masters dissertation that I was researching.

    4/5
  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

    • In general this was good, although I reported to a line manager and project sponsor seperatley, they sometimes had conflicting expectations.

    4/5
  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

    • At first I had a lot of desk based research. However, there are many seminars and training events that I was able to go to to break up the reading of reports. Once the details of the project were agreed the work was a lot more interesting and busy.

    4/5
  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

    • I worked alone on my project, it did not involve responsibility of budgets or people.

    3/5
  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

    • Invaluable for my degree and the experience was the basis of my dissertation. I ws able to apply many of the concepts from my degree to the placement and I am sure that it will be invaluable experience in terms of applying for jobs in the public sector.

    5/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

    • Not at all like the image of bureaucracy.

    5/5
  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

    • There were no major problems. There was a delay in getting a security pass for the building. It was a little daunting finding somewhere to live in London having no connections there.

    3/5
  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

    • I was able to attend as much training as I wished. There were also many seminars given bu colleagues that were very useful e.g. on working in Brussels.

    4/5
  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?

    • Company Parties/Events

    Working from home
    3/5
  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

    • Would offer a steep learning curve in research and policy analysis.

    4/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

    • 4/5
  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

    • The cost of living was not as bad as I expected. The pay allowed me to enjoy myself and experience London.

    3/5
  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

    • ok, and easy access to other areas.

    4/5
  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

    • Many opportunties to get involved in social activities and sports teams

    4/5
    Report this review

Details

Internship (1 Month+)

Government

London

September 2009