Assistant Cost Manager Review

I found the placement enjoyable. When you start you are assigned a buddy who takes you out for lunch in your first week and is there for the placement student whenever you have a question you may not feel comfortable asking within the office environment.. There is an official office social every two months, which is paid for by the company and many more socials and corporate social responsibility events.

There is a good atmosphere within the cost management teams and from the very start you feel a part of the team. There is a strong working relationship with the team and even the directors who will value you as a colleague and take on board any suggestions you may have.

When you begin you are assigned a line manager who is someone within the company with a significant amount of experience of the processes involved within the company. They are there for you whenever you need advice and will sit down with you properly to discuss all works you are to undertake. The onus is always on the development of the placement student.

The balance of work to empty time within the placement was very well prepared for myself. There are resource schedules regularly undertaken to ensure there is always appropriate work to be done on projects that will enhance your learning as a trainee. Even when times are more quiet, there are additional works that can be undertaken which enhance the business in other ways and help you to learn more processes you might not necessarily associate with the job role.

From the start of the placement I was given responsibility of my own project. To start with all work was worked through with my line manager but as time developed I was trusted to take action by myself to further the project. As the months progressed, I was given the same responsibility on multiple projects.

I found the skills I learnt during my time of the placement were more up to date and useful than many of the skills I learnt at university. Many of the skills during the placement seem to keep up with the rate of progression of processes and technology faster than the skills learnt at university. This includes changes in the law which relate to the job. There are many opportunities to take part in CPD sessions at the office and keep up to date.

The atmosphere was mixed in the office dependant on work, however, having worked at a few similar organisations within the industry I can honestly say it is quite good here. When times are busy and there is not enough resource to cover the amount of work then it is definitely felt within the office. However most weeks are quite chilled as long as you complete your work to a good standard within the time constraints. The banter is good.

There is a strong graduate development programme within the company. This includes all expense paid trips to London every three months and any RICS Matrics events you want to go to paid for. There is also an online training system for anybody in the company to use however this needs more diversity.

There are lots of employment prospects within the organisation. From the start you are asked if you want to continue working at the organisation after your placement - performance forgiving of course. As the organisations focus is a 'one business' approach, there is the opportunity to work at any office within the organisation worldwide after your placement.

Unfortunately there were not many placement students within the office I worked at however there are many people in the office who are happy to socialise outside of work hours. When you visit the London office for the graduate days you feel the divide between the many London graduates and the regional offices, however this is not a major problem.