Power Academy Scholar Review

I really enjoyed my placement at National Grid and I feel I have learnt a lot more about the power industry as a whole. By working there, I have been provided with relevant industry experience and also learnt how to work in an office. I feel this has prepared me for the future and given me an insight into career options.

Everyone in my team made me feel very welcome and were always very helpful with any issues or questions I had. Being trusted to work on important projects with the team made me feel ‘valued’ within in the company and as most of my colleagues had been on a similar placement before they were very understanding.

My direct line manager was very good at giving me guidance into what I should be doing but also left a lot of decisions up to me into how I went about things which gave me a lot of freedom to really make the project my own. The manager of my team was also very helpful and met with me a few times to see how I was getting on within the team and gave me feedback on how I was doing and how to improve.

At the beginning the work load wasn’t particularly heavy but there was never a point where I had nothing to do. Spending time at the start getting to know the team and how they do things was very important and helped with the rest of my placement. Near the end of my placement there was a lot more to do but this never became too much as it became a goal to deliver a good output from my project and the work was genuinely enjoyable.

I was given a lot more responsibility than I was expecting and this was a big motivation to do a good job. The project that I was given to do was one that would have been done by someone else had I not been there and was not simply something to keep my busy. it was a project that I was expected to deliver on and this made it very rewarding to complete it.

In university this year I am studying power systems classes and the knowledge I have gained from working at National Grid and going on multiple site visits is assisting greatly with my understanding. Also by attending training sessions within the company this has helped greatly with my presentation skills and on how to write engineering reports.

The office had a professional but also relaxed atmosphere which I felt very comfortable in. The office had workspaces where you could collaborate and chat with other team members and dedicated study rooms where you could go to get some space to yourself and get work done when required. Overall it was a very friendly place to work.

It was organised well and we were set up with laptops to work on from day one. We went through an induction day where we were given a tour of the building and told who to go with any problems we might have. We were allocated a buddy to help us through the process as well who could answer specific questions about the placement and this was very useful.

The company put a big focus on your personal development throughout the placement and we were helped with making a specific development plan that we worked on together with our line managers to make realistic goals for our project and extra things to help with our professional skillsets such as our presentation skills and team working.

I am going to work towards hopefully being offered a place on National Grid’s graduate scheme as the placement I have done so far has been really rewarding and the training and work environment that they provide is second to none. I think it would be an excellent company to work for and especially in such an exciting and evolving industry.

The social side of the placement was great as I was working with 9 other students who I became very close with over the placement. As they were all living in the nearby town of Leamington we would all socialise together almost every night which made the summer a very enjoyable experience. We would have lunch together at work everyday also which was great to chat about how everybody’s project was doing and learn about the other teams in National Grid.

Living in Leamington was fairly expensive for rent and I found it fairly difficult to find somewhere to stay for a short period of time. But the actual cost of living there was comparable to any other student city and there were plenty of supermarkets that were affordable to shop from.

The nightlife in Leamington was pretty good as it has a big student population so there were some good local bars and clubs. It wasn’t a huge place but there was never nothing to do. Also Birmingham and London are a train ride away which make for a very fun night out.

There were numerous sports clubs and social events that were advertised on a notice board in the building but as I was only there for such a short period of time I didn't make use of this. I mostly socialised with the other power academy scholars but one night I went out with my team and had a great time speaking to people outside of work.