Customer Value Assistant Review

I have enjoyed every second working for Computacenter. It's an extremley supportive culture and I always recieved support where needed. I was able to improve the vast majority of my skills throughout the year. I was also allowed to go off and gain experience outside my day to day role, wherever I asked for it, which was great. The whole year was great from start to finish.

Massively, I was never counted as just a placement student. My opinons were always valued in team meetings and I was always included. I felt very much part of the team. The work they asked me to do was always for a purpose and it was always greatly appreciated. I was raised for several "Excellent in Actions" which is equivilant to a £10 gift card for any projects I had a lot of invovlement with, which really makes you feel like your work is valued. My team would always make the time for any questions I had or anything in general I needed help or support with.

As mentioned above, I have recieved such extensive support this year. Not only from my line manager and mentor, but also from my team and the wider Computacenter community. As a culture Computacenter is very supportive. I had monthly 121s with my mentor and we always discussed areas I needed support and he would never shy away from providing it. I was given constant guidnace in the 121s also, in terms of areas I could improve on and how I could improve.

I built up my workload throughout the placement year. At the start, it was all about settling in and getting used to everything within my team. During the end of the placement year, I was very much time managing myself, setting myself deadlines and I was very busy. If I had periods where I wasn't busy, I could arrange "experience based tasks" with the help of my mentor where I could go off and see with wider Computacenter, which was one of my favourite aspects. I feel like it was a perfect balance, I was never bored during my placement and there was always projects I could get invovled with. My team would always welcome my help.

I was given responsibility for carrying out all my own monthly tasks, time managing myself and ensuring I completed all the work due. I was given responsibility for delivering a huge project to the Computacenter community which invovled extensive work.

I was constantly encouraged to attend training courses and develop myself through expereince tasks. I have developed a huge amount of skills during this year. I attended a 2 days training course on presenting, to name one, and this will assist me when I return to university as I am required to deliver several presentations. I have developed my communication skills, leadership and confidence which will help me achieve the grade I want at university next year.

As I worked on a floor with the CEO and other senior management it was on occassion quite serious and quiet. However, there was always conversations to get invovled in, and the general atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. I never felt uncomfortable and always welcomed.

Everything was set up perfectly. I am the fifth rotation of a placement student in my role so they have the whole year set up well and I had everything I needed from day one (laptop, phone). All the placement students had to deliver 6 month presentations to their line managers, and at the end of the year we all had 12 month presentations to deliver to the directors and our peers. We had certain training courses which were set up just for the placement students to attend (Presentation course) and we all had documentation which would help us through our first few weeks ready for us when we arrived.

As mentioned, I recieved extensive training in terms of training courses and experience sessions (spending days in different departments in Computacenter). I was allowed any training I asked for as long as it was justified. My mentors focus was on my development and it took priority throughout the year which was great.

Computacenter have an associates programme designed for post graduates. It's strongly encouraged that you apply for this or come back to Computacenter in some way. There are many other routes to take and there is a big push at the moment from HR in terms of recruiting future talent.

There were just above 9 of us completeing placements this year. We had lunch together regularly and arranged several nights out. It is what you make of it, it needs to be organised.

As I was based in Hatfield, the socialising aspect of the placement was quite difficult as there isn't much in the area. However, I worked from London (Blackfriars) regularly where socialising was a lot easier so this compensated for that. The cost of living in Hatfield isn't too bad, there are lots of houses that rent one room out due to it being minutes from Hertfordshire University.

As above.