Materials Science Industrial Placement Student Review

It was hard work but I was surprised by the variability in the work I undertook and enjoyed the various projects I was involved in.

I felt that my colleagues really appreciated the work I did and they made me feel like a full time employee rather than a placement student.

My manager gave me excellent guidance through-out the year, particularly in regards to university related work and managing customers.

It tended to always be busy, never did I have nothing to do, however some periods we were super busy and this put us under alot of pressure.

I couldn't believe the amount of responsibility I was entrusted with, after my first few months of course. By the end of my placement I was handling projects as a lead and even went on business trips to Ireland!

Whilst the science I learned may not necessarily help with univiersity studys, the skills I've acquired/developed such as presenting, communication etc will be extremely useful past university into my future career. I feel much more prepared for a full time job now that I have this experience under my belt.

Everyone in my office was a pleasure to work with. People were focused and serious when it was needed but also could have a good laugh. The only thing I would say is that our department is constantly under immense stress due to deadlines and ever increasing work, I think on rare occasions this showed.

In the case of this placement I think there could have been a better set-up in regards to the additional university work, at times I felt overwhelmed by the combination of university work and placement work. Also there seemed to be little other than a poster day organised specifically for the placements students. The main body of the placements was organised well and I quickly settled into the working role.

Our team had a limited training budget in terms of external courses, this meant there were some interesting courses I was not able to attend. On the job and internal training courses were immensely helpful and I was allowed and encourage to participate in any I thought would be beneficial. There was even a specific set of courses for placement students at Ware.

It is hard to know the exact prospects but doing the placement certainly hasn't harmed the chances. Everyone I've talked to at the company says a placement is something they would look out for when looking at a candidate. It was slightly disappointing to learn that very few placement students manage to make the graduate scheme. However there was more hope with direct entry roles.

At the start of the year the social scene at Ware was excellent, it did die down a bit though-out the year. However Ware is slightly isolated from the majority of the placement students (most being at GSK house). This made interactions with these other students minimal.

Being near London it was rather expensive compared to what I was used to. Me and my house mate shared a two bed flat for ~£900 per month between us including all bills, this is as good as you'll find price wise (2014). Drinks were fairly pricey, afraid I'm not a beer-drinker but a tap cider would set you back at least £4 and a spirit mixer was a tad less.

Whilst Ware itself doesn't even have a nightclub, there are areas close by with places to go. Hertford is the closest though the nightclub there may now be closing. However the main place to go is London which is 45mins away by train. It is not a cheap night but if you're willing to spend it is by far the best place to find nightlife.

There was not too much going on in Ware other than football, and even this was limited. If there were things going on they were not well advertised.