Systems Specialist Review

I really enjoyed my placement with the company because I was learning and earning at the same time. I believe the colleagues and tasks were of importance and challenging made the placement more enjoyable.

I was placed in a major role within the organisation, with weekly reviews where I gained recognition from my manager. Working as a member of the department I felt encouraged to do more and the work that was completed was ackowledged.

I had a weekly 1:1 review and a 3 month appraisal system. At each of these I received feedback with good attributes listed along with room for improvement. My manager and team supported me in my development throughout the placement very well.

I was busy throughout the majority of my placement, with room for a breather from time to time.

I was given a massive responsibility within the company which put me in charge of 3 major systems which the business was demanding. This enabled me to work as an individual and as part of a team through leading meetings and presentations.

I believe that the programming, presentation, organisational, stress management and team building skills developed will assist me in my final year at Oxford Brookes University and help me finding work thereafter.

The general atmosphere in the office was upbeat, we were always interacting with one another having a laugh while completing tasks to deadlines.

The placement was well organised, I had 3 set projects. However, there were unrealistic time scales which impacted on the work load from time to time.

I had a lot of support mechanisms which reduced the amount of training and investments that were made in me. I did receive some basic training in C#, InfoPath, SQL and Excel. Furthermore, the first month of me joining the company I was put into an intensive 1 month of training which allowed me to learn about the job role and business.

I have heard that I made a very good impact in the company, along with the company requiring students with ambition and a graduate placement and apprenticeship schemes the future looks promising.

The social scene was good; we had an event’s organiser which presented us with leaving parties, birthday parties and festive evenings out.

The cost of living in the Oxford area is reasonable, I lived at home which made it cheaper than most. The average student said that some aspects of living was quite expensive but generally worth it.

The night life was good; again living in Oxford I was aware of around 8 clubs which were buzzing over the weekends and had special nights throughout the week.

There were local gyms and leisure centres with local bars and restraints where we could get together and go out.