Placement Student, Project Management Review

I did enjoy my placement, although it did have its ups and downs! Overall it was enjoyable- I got to spend time on 2 projects and see various different phases. I had opportunities to attend meetings and see the client facing side as well as office work. Towards the end of my placement I was given increased responsibility, even running my own mini project with contractors etc. The downside was that I often had nothing to do and at these points I didn't enjoy it as much.

I felt really valued by my colleagues, they were always extremely nice to me and encouraged me to ask as many questions as possible, always keen to help me to learn. My line manager sent me to see another project for a bit which was really nice of her. I felt valued because people would ask me to do things once they had got to know me and would always say it would be a huge help to them, rather than begrudgingly giving me work to do!

My line manager was extremely supportive and gave me guidance whenever I needed it, as did others of my seniors. My director organised lunches in the middle and at the end to check on us. I felt like I could ask my line manager if I needed anything, although she was extremely busy so didn't have very much time to spare!

Most days I had long periods of time with nothing to do. I would say general I really wasn't very busy on a daily basis though a few days I would have a full day. I would say however that this is part of the industry- highs and lows in work load so that explains it to some extent, but I spent a fair amount of time being quite bored where people didn't have jobs for me.

To start with I was given limited responsibility but this definitely grew. By the last few weeks I was managing a small project at the Royal Free London and was liaising with contractors for tendering for a large project, calling and emailing them and corresponding with the quantity surveyor too. I guess it took a while for something to come along that they could handover as my responsibility.

I think this has been very helpful for my future as it has enabled me to develop my professional skills in communication- meetings, emails etc and general day to day office life. It has also helped my time management and allowed me to see the real world side of construction and gain perspective around the technical aspects I learn at university.

I was seconded out to the Royal Free so was mainly in the NHS trust office. The atmosphere most of the time was really good here, with a fair portion of Mace people. To start with everyone seemed stressed and not that friendly but I soon got to know them better and we all chatted a lot and had a laugh. The Mace office also seems to have a good atmosphere though I wasn't there much and hot desking can be rather daunting!

I have mixed opinions on this, in some respects it was really well set up- everything was waiting for me on my first day, we had a full day's induction and had an end of internship event towards the end. However I think that there could be more done to ensure that when the placement students arrive they will have something worthwhile to do and maybe a bit more warning that you could be sent out on secondment and not really get to know Mace.

Future employment prospects are very appealing within the organisation. Their graduate scheme appears to be rally good and having spoken to some of the graduates they would definitely recommend it. It is a very friendly company which helps make you keen to come back. If you are recommended by your manager you can get a straight offer for next year's internship/grad scheme depending on your uni year.

I organised a few drinks events and once these got going they were really fun. This was from halfway through and from that point onwards a good social scene arose, by the end of placement even in the penultimate week it really felt like lots of us were friends. So I'd say yes but you have to be proactive! There wasn't too much in my actual office, but they arranged leaving drinks for me which was really nice.

Quite expensive as it was London! I was lucky enough to be able to commute from my family home and when we went out socialising we didn't choose the most expensive places in the main, so in general it was totally fine! there were also a few work events where drinks and nibbles were arranged for us free of charge.

The nightlife was pretty limited in my office as everyone was from different companies and had a lot of work on so didn't really go out! But on the nights out I went on with other placement students the nightlife was really good- we had a lot of fun and went on quite a big night out on payday on a bar/club crawl in covent garden which was fun!

There were a few opportunities to get involved in- such as a mini sports day with the NHS office, a race for Mace charity run and quarterly drinks. There weren't a huge amount of things going on but between those and our end of placement event there was enough to keep us connected to Mace in ways other than just sat at our desks!