Guest Bloggers
As a new feature for 2008/2009, the guest blog proved to be highly successful. Therefore we are again inviting students who are on a placement, and those who are applying, to write a blog about their experiences.
Below you can read regular updates covering all aspects of the placement process; expect some highs, lows, maybe tears, and probably hangovers. Feel free to comment on the blogs, or if you are interested in becoming a blogger and sharing your experiences contact us here.
Our first new blogger for 2009/2010 is Craig Harris, who is about to start a year long placement at Fujitsu Services. Craig will be filling us in on all the highs and lows of working within HR for a leading IT Services company.
Craig Harris vital stats
Company: Fujitsu Services
Age: 20
University: Loughborough
“My name is Craig Harris and I’m currently studying Management Sciences at Loughborough University. I’ve secured a placement at Fujitsu Services working in the HR department in Bracknell. Here I will share my experiences; the good, the bad and the ugly; hopefully more of the first ones though” Read his latest blog here.
Our second new blogger for 2009/2010 is Chris Hall. Chris is the only student we have who is blogging about his experiences on unpaid summer internships. For 6 weeks Chris will be working and writing about his experiences. Who knows what and where the Summer holds…watch this space to find out
Chris Hall vital stats
Company: Generate Sponsorship
Age: 21
University: Bournemouth
“Hello. Hello. I’m Chris Hall, a 21-year-old second student studying at Bournemouth Uni. I’m currently about to start my six week summer placement and want to give you guys an insight into my life living in London at Generate Sponsorship PR. UNPAID”
Read his latest blog here.
Our third new blogger for 2009/2010 is Colin Davies. Colin is going to be starting his RateMyPlacement blogging career whilst travelling around China for 3 weeks (Lucky him!) before he starts his year long placement at Microsoft in Reading. To read tales of Chinese delicacies and train networks, placement advice and Microsoft, Colin is your guy!
Colin Davies vital stats
Company: Microsoft
Age: 21
University: Nottingham Trent
“Hello guys, My name is Colin and I used ratemyplacement a whole load when I was researching into placements. I don’t start work at Microsoft until July 6th but I will start blogging whilst i am on my travels around China to give you a bit of advice/build up to how I got myself into the position I am in now…” Read his latest blog here.
Following on from Colin, we have Sarah Melrose, who is also going to be working at Microsoft in Reading. It will be great to see the differences in their experiences… despite working in the same place!
Sarah Melrose vital stats
Company: Microsoft
Age: 20
University: DeMontfort University
“Hi, I’m Sarah, studying Marketing Management at De Montfort University in Leicester. I’m just about to start my most important year so far at uni, and hopefully the best, and begin my placement at Microsoft in Reading. I am starting my placement soon, moving into a house with 5 other interns at Microsoft, and will certainly keep you posted!” Read her latest blog here
Our fifth new blogger for 2009/2010 is Julian Reddick. Unlike our other bloggers, Julian has recently finished his finals at Loughborough University. He is about to embark on a summer long internship for Credit Suisse at their Canary Wharf office in their derivatives division before he begins studying for his MA at Warwick in September. The natural question is why is he going to be interning this summer rather than looking for a graduate role and throughout his blog he will aim to answer that very question, along with sharing all the details of his new experiences.
Julian Reddick vital stats
Company: Credit Suisse
University: Loughborough University
“Bonjour, I am writing this introductory blog from the sunny climate of the south of France where I am spending 10 days relaxing with my family before starting my internship on June 29th. I will be working for Credit Suisse at their Canary Wharf office in their derivatives division and have recently finished my finals at Loughborough University where I studied Computing and Management, so this holiday is a much needed break before the busy summer ahead.This summer will be full of new experiences and will be a great learning opportunity, I look forward to sharing it with you all.
Cheers, Julian …” Read his latest blog here.
New for this year, Grant Thornton now have their very own guest blogger. Lucy will be telling us all the juicy details of her experiences at GT, as she works as a Tax Intern on a 6-week Summer Internship.
Lucy Hardman vital stats
Company: Grant Thornton
University: Bristol University
“Hi! My name’s Lucy and I’m currently completing a 6-week summer internship at Grant Thornton’s London office. I am about to go into my final year studying physics at Bristol and last year I spent a year studying in Grenoble in the French Alps. Over the next few weeks I hope to give you an insight into life as an intern at GT!” Read her latest blog here.
For one month only, we will be gaining a great insight into the world of Intel. Sam Jones will be filling us in on his year so far, what it took to gain his placement and the in’s and out’s of his last month as an Intel employee.
Sam Jones vital stats
Company: Intel
University: Loughborough University
“Hi, I’m Sam Jones and I am a student at Loughborough University, currently on a placement with Intel Corporation (UK). I’ve already been on the placement for 12 months, and have just 1 more month to go! Here at Intel we have a 1 month handover period where the current (old!) interns and their replacements are at work at the same time. In this blog I will keep you updated on the progress of that month; from training, to integration socials, to leaving parties. My replacement starts on July 9th, more will follow…Sam” Read his latest blog here.
Taking over from Sam, is his replacement Emily Barman. Emily will be blogging about her time at Intel over the next 12 months of her placement; filling us in on what it is like to work within Marketing, Communications & Events!
Emily Barman vital stats
Company: Intel
University: Aston University
“Hi. I’m Emily and I started a Marketing placement at Intel about a month ago. I go to Aston University and am studying Marketing where a placement year is compulsory for everyone in the Business School. This means that although the university has a lot of contacts, there is also a lot of competition between students to try and secure a great job at a great company. I’ll start from the beginning…” Read her latest blog here.
Up next is Godfrey Atuahene Junior. He has managed to secure not only an Internship for this summer but a year long placement as well, which means he has got a lot too write about. Working in HR, Godfrey will be able to fill us in on what it is like working within the ‘people focused’ profession.
Godfrey Atuahene Junior’s vital stats
Company: Whipps Cross Hospital (Internship)/Brent Borough Council (Placement)
University: University of Portsmouth
“Hello everyone my name is Godfrey, and I have secured an Internship at Whipps Cross Hospital and a Placement year at Brent Borough Council. I am studying Human Resources Management at Portsmouth University and have just finished my 2nd year. I am very happy that I’ve completed 2 years of uni already, but it feels like it has gone all in a flash to be honest! Now is the start of my HR working life and I am going to take you guys with me on my trip throughout my Internship and year on Placement. I’m sure there is going to be many highs and lows…” Read his latest blog here.
Unlike our other bloggers Sam will be writing fewer blogs, covering each third of her placement at GSK. Working within the Global Community Partnerships department, we will get to find out all the juicy details of working within communications in a large corporate firm…
Sam Gray vital stats
Company: GlaxoSmithKline
Age: 20
University: Newcastle University
“This time a year ago I remember scrolling through ratemyplacement.co.uk looking for potential placements in which to apply, now I am writing about my placement at GlaxoSmithKline for them!” Read her latest blog here.
New to blogging are Faye and Heather from TUI UK. They will be writing our first joint blog on their experiences whilst on placement within the product department. Offering insight into working within the tourism industry, follow the girls travel highlights and day to day expectations.
Faye and Hannah vital stats
Company: TUI UK
University: Nottingham Trent/Aston University
“Hi we are Heather and Faye and we are going to be sharing our experiences from working at TUI UK. I, Heather am currently studying International Business and Economics at Aston University. Faye is currently studying Business Studies at Nottingham Trent University. We are both on placement at TUI UK in their product department, where pretty much everything that goes into the brochure is decided from which hotels to which prices to which pictures to which resorts. There are other placements at TUI UK in the Trading department, where prices are changed in reaction to demand from customers. ” Read their latest blog here.
Bloggers from 2008/2009
Who would have thought it? We have never heard of Outokumpo Stainless and then we get two applications from students on placement there. We did our research and for those of you who don’t know “Outokumpo are fast becoming the undisputed number one in stainless. What makes us special is total customer focus – all the way, from R&D to delivery. You have the idea. We offer you world-class stainless steel, technical know-how and support.”
Ben Duffy vital stats
Company: Outokumpu Stainless
Age: 20
University: Sheffield Hallam
“I am Ben Duffy, a 20 year young male and I am currently studying at Sheffield Hallam University in which I am studying for BA Hons in business studies and I am now in the 3rd year of study which is my placement year.…” Read the intoduction here, and the latest blog here.
Our 2nd blogger at Outokumpu is Michael Latham who has the dubious pleasure of working in a factory where everybody is going to be made redundant. Compare his experiences with Ben Duffy’s and find out how he gets on in this interesting year.
Michael Latham vital stats
Company: Outokumpu Stainless
Age: 20
University: Sheffield Hallam
“Well I’m Michael Latham, from Manchstesr originally but been studying in Sheffield, at Sheffield Hallam for 2 years and I am now in my 3rd year and out on placement. I decided to stay and do my placement in Sheffield because its a pretty awesome city…” Read the intoduction here, and the latest blog here.
Our 3rd blogger is Nicola Adlard another student from Sheffield Hallam, clearly a proactive bunch up there. She is going to be talking about her experiences on placement within the food industry.
Nicola Adlard vital stats
Company: Cucina Sano
Age: 20
University: Sheffield Hallam
“I am currently on placement at Cucina Sano in Old Leake, Lincolnshire, as part of my university course where I study Public Health Nutrition at Sheffield Hallam University…” Read the intoduction here, and the latest blog here.
Our 4th blogger is Phil Hazelton. Phil is our only blogger (at the moment) who is looking for a placement, follow his experiences as he tries to find and apply for his perfect placement.
Phil Hazelton vital stats
Company: Currently looking for a placement
Age: 19
University: Bournemouth
“My name is Phil, and I’m a second year currently studying Business at Bournemouth University. I’ve always had a passion for entrepreneurship, and I’m also a keen web developer; a combination which has naturally led me to select e-Business as my field of specialty…” Read the intoduction here, and the latest blog here.
Our 5th blogger is Faz Asif, the only student who has done a placement, Faz is looking to impart some of his knowledge and experiences on to you and give you all the facts about placements..
Faz Asif vital stats
Company: General Motors (Saab brand)
Year: Final
University: Aston
“I’m currently a final year student at Aston University, having completed a 12 month work placement at General Motors. I’m a big promoter of the placement year for many reasons (see my article called 3 good reasons to do a placement) and will be posting regular articles on RateMyPlacement to help all those guys currently considering or looking for one!” …” Read his latest blog here
Our last blogger is Manny Mandola who has been working for Logica for 3 months. He has been on 3 projects already so has varied experiences in a time of great change for Logica.
Manny Kandola vital stats
Company: Logica
Age: 20
University: Aston
“I have been with Logica since July and and I am a student at Aston University studying Computer Science. So far at Logica I have worked in various roles and feel that have experienced much in a short period of time…” Read the intoduction here, and the latest blog here.
