Risk & Controls Analyst Review

As you can imagine you have your bad days and your good days but overall I can confirm it was an enjoyable experience. The two key aspects to making this an enjoyable experience were the people within the organisation and the variety of work.

Overall I felt valued by my colleagues, everyone was friendly and approachable. In addition to this my colleagues were confident in giving me additional work showing that if you are up to standard they will place trust in your ability.

My line manager was fantastic; she was always on hand to help and throughout the placement maintained her enthusiasm when helping. I liked her style to 'managing' me, she gave responsibility and didn’t get overly involved with my work, and she also let me make my own mistakes and was there to help when I had questions.

The busyness varied throughout the placement with some days being fast and some slow. Overall the level was right, the work kept me busy and I didn’t feel overloaded at any point. .

Every project I was involved in was 'proper work', I felt every task I was given would add some value to the business. In addition I was given accountability for a variety of work projects. For you to get given responsibility you first must give your line manager reason to trust your ability.

The placement was a steep learning curve to me. I learnt about the importance of time management and also how key structuring your approach is. This I feel I can take forward both within my degree studies and beyond.

The atmosphere tended to be relatively relaxed. The office is open plan and tends to have the balance of ensuring work gets done but employees are able to 'have a laugh' along the way.

The placement was well set up. It has a board of General Talent Managers who are always on hand to support/assist you. The General Talent Managers also send weekly updates letting you know of activities going on. Social events for placements and graduates are also held by the company.

A few classes/training sessions were put on to help bring our excel skills up to scratch, this was useful. Centrica also put on a half day of presentation practise where a consultant came in, this was very interesting, useful and also good fun!

They took 50% of the Intern intake of 12.

Centrica put you up in halls accommodation with fellow placement students. The social scene was okay, all the placement students were good fun and a laugh but the area hasn’t got a great nightlife scene.

Centrica covered accommodation. A typical night out in Windsor would cost roughly £50. Drinks at the pub tended to be north of £4 per pint.

There was a lack of choice & nights tended to be expensive compared to the student nights I was use to. Would recommend spending extra and going into London rather than Windsor. There are a couple of nice pubs in the area.

There were activities to be involved with but you had to seek these out yourself. Would be useful if the Grad team let the placement students know what activities take place when and where and who to contact. .