Oil & Gas Economist Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement and working this year. I was a highly valued member of the team and felt appreciated. The work I did was very interesting, I was given a lot of responsibility and the team I worked with were very easy going.

I was a highly valued member of the team and never looked down upon because I was 'only the placement student'. My opinion was highly valued and the work I did enabled the team to work on a day to day basis.

I had weekly meetings with my line manager to determine what I was going to do that week as well as monthly development meetings. Through my development meetings I was encouraged to attend talks, develop personal skills and find work of interest. However, at times I felt I did have too much work and was not given support.

I was extremely busy all the time which I saw as a great asset but others could see as a hindrance if they are not able to keep on top of the work. In my last few months, I was relieved off a few regular tasks so other members of the team could learn them, which did give me some free time to do tasks more of interest.

I was in charge of briefing that went directly to the PM and Ministers as well as contribute significantly to other large pieces of work.

I was an economist for the year and, as I do an Economics degree, this helped my degree immensely. On top of all the general office skills I developed including Microsoft office, time management, communication, I was also able to develop my econometrics skill and economic theory.

It was fun but also very busy at certain times when doing work for short deadlines. My team were very friendly and approachable so I enjoyed working in the office.

It was an established role that had a clear objectives however it also had to space to explore interests.

I was often encouraged to attend talks and do reading. I had monthly development meetings to plan my development and actively worked on my personal skills.

I am unable to directly get a job after due to equal opportunities within the government, however I feel like I am in a good place for applying for the GES and have a lot of support.

I was the only placement student at DECC however there are a lot of graduates so there was a lot of opportunities to socialise with others of a similar age.

It was very expensive to live and travel and a lot of my income was eaten up through it despite having a nice salary. However on nights out colleagues often bought my drinks.

The nightlife in London was great however slightly expensive although my team members mainly bought my drinks. The team was very social and enjoyed meeting up out of the office.

There were organised talks, pub quizzes and sports teams.