Workflow Co-Ordinator Review

At this stage of my placement (75%) I feel that my placement has been a valuable experience however I could've potentially enjoyed it more if I had a different role in the company and was potentially in a different office (e.g. - London) with a greater number of interns to have a more social experience. I found myself not talking a great deal at work and instead clicking a mouse which was a shame and does get boring after a while. Atos as a company has a great community for interns/grads and this has encouraged me to try and find a new role for post-graduation.

Enjoyed spending time with the other interns, apprentices and grads. This was made easier with the intern induction programme towards the beginning of our placement. Although after meeting with interns from other offices it sounds like the community is centred in London. I struggled to make good relationships with the rest of my immediate team due to the amount of time they worked from home after my original line manager changed role.

Early on I was given all the necessary guidance during my probation period (3 months) by my line manager to learn the internal systems and software. I was also given a buddy who was on the grad scheme and a mentor who I met on a monthly basis. My buddy acted as a friendly face which was nice and the latter acted as a point of contact where I could discuss things and be pointed in the right direction with any questions my team wouldn't be able to answer.

It is hard to comment on this as the consistency of work ranges significantly in my role as workflow co-ordinator.The Monday morning can get very busy but in the afternoon you are sat twiddling your thumbs. At this point you have to take time to try and value to the company or role but sometimes this is difficult due to a lack of direction. When this happens I would work on the project set by my university for my placement year.

As soon as I completed the probation period at the start of my placement I was given access to the secure laptop which I have been primarily working on since. This in itself doesn't represent much difference when doing the work however to be trusted and be the primary point of contact showed that Atos and my managers were willing to trust me from the start and throughout my placement.

A lot of my time when on placement was spent actively monitoring the incident queues on internal Atos systems. This did become fairly monotonous after time due to the lack of variation in the working day. Realistically this is unlikely to assist a great deal in my studies next year. However I enjoyed my first exposure to the real working world and in some cases whether it be working within tight deadlines or with people from other countries it was always important to maintain strong communication skills along with clear decision making. These behaviours that I have developed over the course of the year will certainly assist in my studies and future career.

I am considered a sociable person by my friends and family. I like to work well but enjoy my working day. I found this difficult at Atos except for lunch times when I met with other interns! I found it harder to form relationships with older workers sat around me and as I mentioned earlier when my original line manager changed roles a lot of the time I was in the office by myself. I also didn't have the option of working from home like everyone else in my team/other interns which I found frustrating especially since the office atmosphere was so dull.

On my first day I arrived and there was a brand new laptop which had all been set up for me which was nice. For a couple of weeks I learnt the systems which does take time due to the number of them. Often access rights weren't quite right and this meant my manager had to spend long periods of time on the phone to the service desk which wasn't ideal. The review system works through a 3, 6 and 12 month. An appraisal rating from 1-5 categorises performance and a minimum of 3 throughout was considered enough to be accepted on to the grad scheme.

The review system works through a 3, 6 and 12 month period. An appraisal rating from 1-5 categorises performance and a minimum of 3 throughout was considered enough to be accepted on to the grad scheme. I am in the process of researching future roles and areas I might be interested in prior to my exit interview where I am expected to share my ideas for future employment.

One of the girls on the grad scheme seemed to be responsible for organising a social scene between us and she did a really good job. We had an amazing Christmas party at the 'Dream Circus' although this was only subsidised £15 by Atos and was a very expensive evening. Besides this the majority of events such as 5-a-side ended up being cancelled due to a lack of numbers which was a shame. Although in the next month there are plans to go karting in the next couple of weeks.

Beeston is only 4 miles from Nottingham city centre. I chose to live there and having being a student here for the last 2 years I know the city well as well as my favourite places to go outside of work with my friends who chose not to do a placement. For that reason I didn't spend any time in Beeston at night but I can't imagine there was much going on other than pubs. I would recommend any prospective Beeston interns to 100% live and commute from Nottingham city centre as it is a short and cheap train (<10 min) or a 20 min drive.