Associate Review

I really enjoyed my placement and felt I was given a wide variety of work which was interesting and insightful.

I felt very valued by my colleagues and everyone was very helpful in explaining things when I was given a job to do and were happy to answer any questions I had as I went along.

I was given a lot of support and guidance, with both the jobs I was working on during my placement but I also received a lot of career advice and tips which was extremely useful.

In general I was kept busy, There were naturally some days where I wasn't very busy and some days where I had numerous jobs to do but in general I was kept busy to a good level.

As the weeks went by I felt I was given increasing levels of responsibility which I enjoyed. I felt I had a large amount of responsibility on some jobs and was impressed that I was trusted with this level of responsibility.

I learnt a huge amount in the 6 weeks and now feel much more knowledgeable in the field and more confident to pursue this as a career.

It was a good mix of hard working people who also got on as friends and could have a chat every now and again. This resulted in a more relaxed atmosphere which I believe leads to a better standard of work as people are happier.

The organisation was great during the placement and I felt I was on a structured programme which I believe works really well. The only drawback was that we were given our joining instructions very late (4 days before the start date). I would have much preferred this information sooner as 4 days before joining I was getting worried something had gone wrong.

We were given a two day introduction course and then a further one day in the local office which gave us a great general oversight of the business and area we were going into. I think this was a good way to introduce us to the firm without 'throwing us in the deep end' and giving us a base understanding so that when we went into the office full time we didn't feel clueless!

I would love a place on the graduate scheme as I have been very impressed with the way I have been treated here and feel my future would be invested in here. The scheme is set up well so that on completion you are offered a final stage interview for a graduate place, meaning you don't have to go through the whole application process again.

The other students were very friendly and in general we made lunch arrangements together which was nice.

I lived at home so it worked out very cheap for me!

The nightlife was great - loads of restaurants, bars and clubs. There were lots of places to go out fairly close to the office due to the Quayside location which is also very close to the centre of town so is great for after work drinks/dinner.

There were a few opportunities for socialising outside of work that I attended, eg meals out/drinks after work. This was great as it allowed time to build friendships with the people in the office.