IT & Business Services Placement Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement year, not only have I been involved in challenging projects across the organisation, but been given the opportunity to explore areas outside of my day job such as visiting our fleets to gain further knowledge of the work we complete on a daily basis.

During the year I have always felt valued by my colleagues, with everyone always keen to share their knowledge with me and offer further opportunities when presented.

I have been fully supported by my line manager and assignment manager throughout placement. I have had monthly 1-2-1's with both to ensure I am fully supported in every aspect of the job and should an issue arise I would be certain I could speak with them at the earliest opportunity and receive full support/guidance.

After my initial learning period, I found myself to be very busy which was exactly what I hoped for during my placement year. I was placed within a projects team due to my interests and career aspirations so I would find some weeks busier than others, but I always found this to be a good balance as my line manager gave us additional group projects to complete with my fellow placements and graduates during these periods, which developed new skills outside my day job.

The amount of responsibility Network Rail allow you to take on is fantastic, I started with a small amount and over the course of the year it grew each month to the point where I was responsible for crucial projects, while still being given all the support and guidance from my managers.

I am sure that I am fully prepared for my last year of University, after being given the opportunity to work on areas aligned with my degree path. I also hope to complete my 3rd year project based around an area worked on in Network Rail.

It was a very relaxed atmosphere in the office, I was based at our Milton Keynes office, which was all open space and hot desks which meant we could work from a range of areas in the building.

The scheme is very well set up with clear structure and expectations from the start.

Network Rail invested a great amount of time in my development in forms such as workshops, 1-2-1's, site visits and day to day training activities with colleagues.

The future employment prospects are extremely appealing, naturally the next step from placement would be to complete the graduate scheme, with plenty of ex-graduates across the organisation in a wide range of roles.

The social scene was good, with Network Rail employing a large number of placements and graduates there was plenty of people who are in the same position.

After moving from the North I found living in Milton Keynes was quite expensive.

The nightlife was average, with only a few bars in the area.

There was opportunities to get involved in various sports activities such as the Network Rail football league.