Undergrad ICT Problem Management and Reporting Review

I greatly enjoyed my placement at BT as it showed me a side of ICT work that I did not know existed, I was in a very customer based role which I had not expected. I greatly enjoyed this role as my previous jobs were very customer service based and this is a theme I wish to carry on in my career after university.

By my third month at BT I was being approached directly by my colleagues with reporting requests, being told I was the go to person for any reporting request which made me feel very valued.

When I felt that I required feedback both my line manager and my senior manager were more than willing to organise a short informal meeting with me to discuss my progress and indeed my senior manager approached me on several locations to request a meeting with me to get my views on my progress.

This depended on the date, for the first week or two of each month I would be very busy running, collating and distributing monthly reports for customers and also gathering information for management reports. The rest of the month was spent performing ad hoc requests and performing any analysis that needed to be done. Some weeks could be busier than others as there could be an unusually high volume of incidents or problems had built up.

I was surprised and slightly nervous at some of the responsibilities given to me. I was given monthly reports to collate which were sent to customers to ensure that BT were hitting agreed targets set out in their contracts and was also given the responsibility of creating a report for my senior manager to present to her senior management team.

My time in BT has help me develop key business environment skills such as proper business etiquette, the importance of taking responsibility and organizational skills, all of which I will take with me for my final year of university and my future career.

There was a very friendly atmosphere where everyone got along and were willing to have a laugh.

Everyone in the office was expecting me on the first day and my manager had tasks ready for me on my first day. Although there were a few system access issues these were rectified quickly.

Within 4 months I had been sent on a trainging course to help me understand my role better which allowed me to gain an extra qualification which is recognised by international business and IT standards.

On my induction day I met members of the graduate scheme who explained the benefits of returning to BT as a graduate after completing my degree. When I began work in my office I discovered that my line manager was in fact on the graduate programme. I was very impressed by the fact that the opportunity was available to graduate and this has encouraged me to apply for the graduate scheme after university.

Although I was invited to placement student events, they all took place in England and I was the only undergraduate placement student in Northern Ireland therefore I could not attend and did not develop a relationship with any of the other graduates that were recruited at the same time as me.

Public transport was very expensive as was rent and shopping.

I'm not much of a party person however there was a good variety of clubs and pubs.

I was given opportunities to join in on social events and also got a chance to attend the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition.