Placement Review at EC Harris

The Role

Role Description

My role was to assist the companies senior quantity surveyors with providing cost management services to clients, including carrying out monthly valuations, producing cost plans and settling final accounts.

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I really enjoyed my placement, mainly due to my manager and supervisor always ensuring that I had enough work to be getting on with and was always kept busy, preventing boredom. Furthermore, I enjoyed the amount of responsibility that was given to me.

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I felt very valued by all my colleagues as they were all constantly interested in what I was working on and always asking if they could have my help with tasks, which made me feel a useful member of the team.

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

I was given a fantastic amount of support and guidance from my managers, who took sufficient time to explain tasks clearly to me and made themselves available whenever I had any questions.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

I was kept busy throughout the whole duration of my placement, which prevented boredom and kept my interest, I always had a task to do every minute of my entire placement.

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

I was given a sufficient amount of responsibility, that gradually increased as the placement progressed as my competence increased. This made me feel valued and a useful memeber of the team without giving me so much responsiblity that I felt like I had been thrown in the deep end.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

The skills I developed during my placement were invaluable for a number of final year studies and provided me with many report templates, cost models etc which I could use to guide the production of my final year assignments. The skills I learnt will continue to be key for the duration of my professional life.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Rated 5/10

There was a well balanced atmosphere of hard work and socialisation, making it a productive working environment.

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

My placement was very well organised and I never experienced any problems what so ever, the company even set up two training days for all placement year employees, including dissertation writing etc.

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

The company envested a significant amount in training and development, paying for me to go on a number of training courses, such as CAD measure, RICS CPD events, year out training days etc.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

• Flexi Time
• Company Parties/Events

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

I have signed a contractto return to EC Harris and begin their graduate development scheme on the 1st September 2010, I am looking forward to getting started.

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

I met up with all fellow placement students twice at ECHQ and had a very good time socially and during the training sessions.

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

Cheap because I moved back home with my parents whilst undertaking my placement year.

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Good because I know what places are good and when in Exeter as I have lived their all my life.

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

We undertook a number of activities outside of work such as bowling, paintballing, 5-a-side football, fun runs etc.

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

I would highly recommend undertaking a placement with EC Harris.

Review 2/16 for EC Harris

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