Supply Chain Management Industrial Placement Student Review

I have really enjoyed my year with National Air Traffic Services (NATS). Everyone has been so friendly and helpful! No two days are the same, and it has been a great learning experience in so many ways.

I really feel like part of the team. Upon starting at NATS, we had a familiarisation day, a buddy system and an initial month to get to know and familiarise ourselves with the department - all to ensure that we were comfortable and could ease into NATS and Supply Chain. My responsibilities were real and my input and ideas were always valued.

My line manager is very approachable and is always available to provide guidance and advice. The managers that I work for on a 2-monthly placement have all been very supportive and helpful. I have regular 1:1's and catch up with my managers to discuss my progress and to gain support.

throughout my placement I have had a number of day job tasks, such as reporting, maintaining intranet sites and being an information point of contact (ipoc). I have had specific jobs, tasks and objectives bi-monthly for each of the 2 month secondments within my placement. This meant that I always had a good variety of tasks. I have always felt that the work load has been balanced.

I have been given real responsibilites and tangilble work tasks. An example of this is a project I am helping to set up to be run by myself with a handful of other placement students and graduates, where we will have a real project with a real budget to run and manage. I have also been involved in projects which have allowed me to see the end - to -end supply chain process, within which my opinions and inputs have been valued.

I have learnt so much throughout my time at NATs. I have developed a number of transferrable skills that will be useful through all walks of life, such as commuication and the ability to prioritise. NATS has presented me with many opportunities to develop my skills, such as my presentation skills through a careers fair, and a variety of courses for example on finance.

Working in supply chain has been a really enjoyable experience, largely due to the people that I have worked with. The atmosphere is always happy and positive and we always have a laugh. There have been occasions where we go out for lunch together, and there are always cakes and biscuits floating around, which compliments, the tea club we have!

I had a programme detailing my objectives throughout the year. It allowed me to gain experience in all of the departments across supply chain and included a number of site visits. Before each placement, I had a 1:1 with the manager of that area to discuss what I would be doing whilst working in their team. My programme was also flexible. I was able to continue some projects and work to see it through to the end, so that I could see the outcome and end-to-end process.

There are numerous training courses available to me. I have attended a number of courses, such as ipoc and finance courses.

I would love to come and work for NATS again in the future and to develop a career here

The social scene at NATS is great. I have often gone for lunch and drinks after work with co-workers within my department, and the Supply chain christmas party was great fun. I have also been out for dinner and to pub quizzes with other co-workers outside of my department. I regularly socialise with the other students and graduates. We tend to go on nights out around Southampton and Portsmouth. There is a facebooke group used to organise events and a Pub lunch each Friday. We tend to have lunch together. It has been great to support each other throughout the year but I have made lots of new friends throughout my placement year, who I hope to stay in touch with.

Moving from university up North, socialising was slightly more expensive than I was used to. However, living in Southampton, I wouldn't say that living costs were at all unreasonable, and I don't feel that I ever had to miss out on social events due to their costs.

We have gone on nights out in both Portsmouth and Southampton, and have always had a great time. There are also plenty of places to go shopping or out for a meal.

There is a sports and social club at NATS which offers various clubs and events. I have joined the Spanish club for lessons. There are also 'Away Days' within my department that often feature a social aspect afterwards, such as the christmas party in winter, or the option to play golf in the summer.