Project Management Review

I really enjoyed my placement with Fujits, the work I was doing really interested me and was really lucky to get the opportunity to take part in the projects i did.

I was always asked to perform tasks and never told, and whenever i completed some work or helped a collegue they were extremely grateful as if i were doing them a favour just by being there.

Support was always there and everyone in the company was happy to help if i ever needed anything but this placement was driven by being self sufficient. I was chucked in at the deep end on many occasions which grew me as a person and helped me to develop, you could take this the wrong way as a lack of support but i saw it as an opportunity to prove myself and was rewarded for it with more interesting projects and opportunities.

As with many Project Management positions there were peaks and throughs, sometimes i would would be working to a deadline and would have to work in the evenings at home to get it done. But equally the job was flexible enough to let me relax on other days to finish some uni work or network with other people in the company and learn from them.

When i started the placement i was told i may be able to manage a small work package to get some experience. By the end i have managed one small project and one fairly sizable project with a TCV of £4 million. The more you feel you can take on the more responsibility they will give you.

At university despite completeing some work requiring some management of group tasks i had no really had no project management experience. After this placement i will have all the knowledge to start a graduate job in the career i want to progress in after my degree.

The office that i mainly worked in was quiet, although everyone was friendly. Because my office was slightely outside of the main Fujitsu building it was not as busy and there were a lot less placement students.

Although there was no set structure for my placement it was very well organised. It was tailored to utlise my strengths, but also to develop my weaknesses e.g presenting presentations on different areas of project management and progress reports on what i had completed and when.

The company put me on courses applicable to work i was competing and asked if there was anything else i would like to do. As long as it was in relation to work i was doing they were happy to provide in house or external trainging along with on the job progression.

Placement students are offered a fast track to an assessment centre for a graduate role of they get the approvaol of several managers that they have worked for.

Despite being a fairly small cohort (20ish) we got on very well with each other and there were enough people to socialise at any time if you wanted. An up-side to living in Reading was the proximity to other IP communities and there were often chances to socialise with members of Microsoft, HP, BMW and others.

Despite being fairly close to London Reading isn't too bad for house prices and food, drink and going out in the area is no more than elswewhere.

Reading has a few clubs to choose from but nothing massive or particularly great. We always had a great time that was just because of the people we were with.

Although there were a lot of christmas parties (I think I went to 4) there weren't a great deal of social events organised by Fujitsu itself.