Commercial Co-Ordinator Review

I have enjoyed this year and have learnt alot about full- time work. The placement scheme is very well organised and has been going for many years, meaning that the student roles are well established and you know exactly what is expected of you on a day to day basis.

Despite being the student, I have never felt less valuable than anyone else in my team. My other colleagues have always made me feel like I am important to my team in the day to day tasks, and this has definitely helped me feel confident in my placement and my abilities.

My manager would always be available for any questions I had and help me where possible. We have a one-to-one meeting once a month where I can bring up any issues I may be having, get help with any uni work, and have a chat about my placement and how I want to develop or where I need to improve.

As a full-time member of my team left a few weeks after starting my placement, I ended up having a much bigger work load than the student before me. At first I really struggled as I was just getting to know the job and felt out of my depth, but then when I got to grips with it I made the role my own and was able to get more organised. Day to day can vary in workload, but it's generally quite steady.

I was given quite alot of responsibility and managed my own customers and their accounts. Quite often I have been the only point of contact for the customer and the company, so this gave me responsibility in itself.

As I study Law with Business, my placement wasn't really relevant to the law side of my degree. I do think it will help with the business modules in my final year though. All the skills I have learnt from dealing with people everyday, and time management etc will help in any job, and hopefully having completed a placement year will help me when looking for graduate jobs

The atmosphere in the office is alot more relaxed than other offices I have worked in in the past. Saying this, it can be very tense when the volume of work is high.

Being that there are 16 placement students in the office, and Prysmian have had students for many years, I would say that the placements are very well organised.

Prysmian take on alot of people who have done their placements with them. Alot of these people seem to stay on for 10+ years, which I think shows that they are happy to invest in the students they have!

I would consider coming back in the future. The office is close to my home town, which appeals to me for a while after I leave uni. I would like to try a different role, or know that I could progress in the company.

As there are 16 students, it is quite sociable. I lived at home and commuted this year, but most the other students lived in Southampton and shared student houses. Southampton has quite a good nightlife, so the students go out a fair bit together.

Wouldn't really know as I lived at home

Lots of clubs, restaurants and bars in Southampton

A few but I lived an hour away from work and commuted so wouldn't go out that much as it was a long was to get home!