HR Industrial Placement Student Review

Enjoyed the placement overall. As with all roles, there are elements which are favourable and those which are less favourable but generally the work was interesting and varied.

I found that I developed good working relationships with those who I worked closely with and with others who I worked with intermittently.

Having completed two 6-month placements within the organisation, I feel that more support was received during one than the other. Generally satisfactory.

Naturally, this varied over the course of the placement as there were busier and quieter periods within the department. Overall, the workload was steady and manageable.

I was given individual responsibility for certain projects and tasks. Due to the nature of the department, it was often necessary to check and verify work before actioning.

Experience of working in a large organisation will no doubt benefit me greatly when looking to secure a role upon graduation. Knowledge gained at university and through previous studies cannot be fully appreciated until it can be applies to a true working situation. A placement year provides a very good opportunity to do this. This rating would be higher if I had undertaken a placement in an area of business that I knew I wanted to work in in future. However, I remain undecided so the experience was not as relevant as it would be for some.

As would be expected, efficiency was required in all areas. However, social events did take place and day-to-day conversation was generally light-hearted.

The placement process is well-planned and organised and tasks for each placement were identified to an extent. However, in one half of my placement I felt that organisation and planning could have been better as objective setting and appraisal was not conducted.

An industrial placement training scheme is in place and I also attended a training course in recruitment testing administration.

The organisation is friendly and the industry exciting. However, as I expect is the case with many organisations currently, opportunities for progression are very limited and I have decided that I will probably not be looking to work in Human Resources in my future career.

Social events occurred occasionally but availability of different people was often incompatible for various reasons (e.g. commuting, travelling elsewhere at weekends, outside commitments, etc). Placement students sometimes socialised in smaller groups rather than in one big group.

Cost of living was quite low compared to other areas of the UK and socialising costs were average.

I rarely remained in the area at weekends so did not experience this, but am aware that there are several bars and smaller clubs in the city.

The odd workplace social event and outings organised by placement students occurred, but this was limited.