Placement Student Review

I was not assigned to a project for the first month of my placement, and as I had no work to do I did not find it enjoyable or useful. However, after finding a project, I found the work mostly enjoyable and interesting, but it became repetitive and dull at times. I enjoyed my time with the company overall.

I was valued by most of my colleagues, as I was performing the same role as graduates and experienced members of staff. However, on occasion, some of my colleagues were not pleasant to work with, and on occasion behaved in a rude and unprofession manner.

Upon joining the company I went through an induction, but only a small portion of the information I received was relevant. Very little support was given when trying to find my first role on a project. However, I was given lots of support on the project by my supervisor and manager, although at times I felt as though colleagues were too busy to help out.

As with most IT roles, it varied from day to day. During the first month of my placement I had no work to do whatsoever. When joining my first project, I was kept busy most days, although some days were fairly slow in terms of work.

As my experience increased, I was given higher levels of responsibility. Both placement students and graduates have the opportunity to take charge of a particular piece of project work or even a small team.

No formal training was provided. Many of the skills I picked up on-the-job were fairly specific to the project I was on, and I am not able to apply them to my degree studies. However, the general business skills I developed may prove valuable.

In general, the atmosphere was friendly. However, morale within the company was fairly low due to the uncertainty caused by the CGI takeover and the fact that very few people were promoted or were given pay rises.

Not very well organised unfortunately. Many placement students were stuck with no work to do while waiting to find a suitable role. One one occasion, I was turned down from a role because the resourcing manager mistakenly thought placement students only worked 4 days a week. No set placements or role rotations.

The training budget had been frozen for the majority of my placement. I took a few e-learning modules while waiting to find a role, but these were not particularly useful. Any training I received was on-the-job. Overall, the company seemed reluctant to invest in training for IPs and grads.

I was offered a job with the company, conditional on achieving a good degree grade. However, since the initial offer received by email towards the end of my placement, I have not heard anything more regarding the job, which is slightly off-putting considering it has been a few months since I left the company.

Overall, there was an OK social scene in the IP/grad community. Occasional meals, pub trips, cinema etc. There were also a number of events organised for graduates subsidised by the company, but these were not particularly frequent.

I was based in Surrey, which is one of the most expensive areas of the country to live in outside of London. Rent was extremely high, and it was a struggle to live comfortably on the lower than average salary.

The office is based in a very small Surrey town with a few restaurants and a couple of pubs. Nightlife was not that great, although central London was only a train ride away, with places like Guildford and Wimbledon nearby.

There were a few activities such as a Christmas party, paintballing etc. but these were mostly organised by graduates. There were a few events outside the grad community too, but often these were restricted to just one office location.