Power Academy Student Review

Really enjoyed my placement overall. I found it quite daunting initially but soon settled in. The work was engaging and varied, and there were plenty of talks, events and site visits organised to give us a better understanding of the company, and it was good to leave the desk for the odd day. Having such a large group of placement students definitely made the experience much more enjoyable and allowed us to establish many future contacts.

Very valued by fellow placement students and some members of the team I was working in, however I did not find all of them approachable. This may have been because we were occupying more of our managers time which made it more difficult for them to arrange meetings with them etc, or perhaps because there was not enough desk space/free monitors for everyone in the team when we were present and we disrupted their working environment. This was only a minority however, most of the team seemed to value us.

Our manager provided good support when he was available. He was often out of office or occupied in meetings which made it difficult to locate him, however this was not really his fault. He gave us the space to be quite independent with the project which was beneficial to us.

From day to day I was busy enough to keep me engaged and productive, but not so busy that I felt stressed. Towards the end of the project our workload eased slightly as we came closer to meeting our objectives, but this gave us the opportunity to focus on other tasks and get to know our colleagues better.

As a team we were given almost complete reign over our project, and could decide the individual responsibilities between us. This allowed us to assign appropriate responsibility levels based on our current knowledge levels/experience so we never felt out of our depth. We organised and attended important meetings regarding the project without the supervision of our manager which was beneficial to us.

Through my placement I was able to solidify my existing technical knowledge, and also get a head start and learn about topics which will arise in my next year at university. Being provided with the opportunity of attending a Power Factory training course was also extremely beneficial, and will be useful either in a future placement or career.

The office has a great atmosphere, the design and layout of the office space itself really helps with this. The surrounding teams were lively and interesting, and people seemed to get on well with each other. It was not completely silent or indeed too noisy to concentrate, and at no point did I feel uncomfortable whilst at work.

Most of the setup was good, we received laptops/passes and other necessities quite quickly, however our manager was not well briefed regarding the personal development aspect of the placement, which resulted in us taking a lead in this due to one team members previous placement experience. The presentation day was well organised and allowed us all to get a good insight into other placement projects and parts of the business we were not so familiar with.

A huge emphasis was placed on personal development, and it was ensured that each student kept a record of their achievements and skills developed over the duration of the placement. Allowing us to organise and attend the various site visits etc was also beneficial to our development and deciding where we wished to work in future placements.

I would be very keen to work for the company in the future. I will definitely be returning to complete further placements, and would look towards gaining a place on the graduate scheme in future years.

Due to a large number of placement students working here at the same time, we were able to organise many weeknight and weekend events and activities. Being based in the same area made meeting up quite straightforward, and there was enough variety in social life in the surrounding area to keep us entertained over the different weeks. Attending pub quizzes was a good way to get to know each other.

Living costs were relatively cheap. In particular the accommodation, which was significantly cheaper than payments I am used to, however the standard of the accommodation we were supplied with was in line with - or perhaps worse than - the standard expected for that cheap a property. Food, socialising, and other expenses were standard.

The nightlife provided enough variety and there was a good selection of bars to frequent.

Through the corner club initiative I was able to take part in sporting activities weekly after work, which was great to relax and meet new contacts.