Rural surveyor Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed the work placement. I feel it has been extremely valuable in educating me about the role of a surveyor as well as all of the departments in Savills and how they work together effectively. I have been given the opportunity to be involved in different areas, given responsibility and independence to tackle tasks. I have enjoyed the variety of jobs I have been given and visits that I have attended too, the mixture of work in the office and out on sites has been fascinating.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues. Everyone made me feel very welcomed from start to finish and I felt that I could ask them anything and they were very quick to help. It was nice to be given responsibility for tasks, making me feel like I was needed in the team and involved in various projects.

I was given a lot of support by my supervisor and mentor. They were very welcoming and helpful. I was introduced to everyone on my first day by my mentor and he made sure I was shown around and knew where everything was that I would need. If I had any questions, they were more than willing to go out of their way to help me and answer them. I could also email or pick up the phone to them and be answered promptly, this was reassuring to know that they were there if I needed them.

I was generally very busy through out the placement. The team made sure I got a mixture of work both in and out the office. Some days I was very busy and didn't have a minute to spare in order to get my jobs done, others were more laid back and I had fewer things to do. However, my supervisor had ensured that I had an on going task I could do over the placement should I have a quieter day. This was very helpful as I never felt like I was sitting doing nothing or annoying people asking for work.

I feel like I was given the perfect balance of responsibility during my placement. It was nice to have the independence to work on the tasks that I had been set, on my own and work my way through them, taking my time if I needed to learn about a particular area. However it was also nice that I wasn't 'thrown in at the deep end' and didn't feel like I couldn't manage the amount of work or on the other hand that I was left with no responsibility whatsoever.

I feel the placement has been extremely valuable in developing my skills, particularly communication skills and also helped my confidence levels. Having been given the responsibility to phone clients for example and arrange meetings, this has been very useful in developing my telephone skills. I have also learnt so much about various industries that the rural team deal with. The information I have learnt, for example about deer management and forestry will be extremely useful in certain modules during my final year of university.

I feel there was a good atmosphere in the office. There was a perfect mixture of good friendly chat as well as quiet periods of professional work. The overall atmosphere was positive. The layout of the office was also beneficial to this with an open plan layout allowing people to communicate with each other throughout the day, however there was also a separate kitchen to go to for lunch breaks. This allowed everyone to mix and talk freely, this was valuable to me in getting to know the team and hear more about themselves and their role within the company.

The placement was very well organised. There was a significant amount of input from the main offices in London, which was beneficial in making you feel involved in the whole company and not just the office. The frequent emails and conference calls set up by the graduate recruiters were also very well organised and useful throughout the placement in providing a general understanding of the overall business.

I feel I gained skills in general during my placement but did not attend any specific personal training or development training courses.

I would like to remain optimistic about job prospects. I would be very hopeful that I was successful when I apply for a graduate job.

Yes there was a good social scene amongst colleagues and it was nice to be included in this. There were various arranged lunches hosted for certain people or events. There was also drinks arranged for me after work one evening in order for me to get the chance to socialise with colleagues out with work.

Standard costs of living. In comparison to my university city, it is a lot lower but not particularly cheap.

I travelled to the area I worked and so did not experience the nightlife as such.

Yes there were several sporting events hosted either by the company or ones that the company were involved in. Most of these were charity events and involved entering a team in sports such as tennis or triathlons or tug of war! This was beneficial in allowing me to be included as part of the team, being invited to such events.