Community Energy Operations Undergraduate Review

On the whole it was a really positive and enjoyable placement experience for me. It was a really great community and culture in my office which made the day to day droll far more bearable. I was able to take on loads of engaging work in a variety of areas and learned so much from getting experience across the whole business.

I really felt a part of the scenery and one of the team. All the way through my work was not only respected and valued by my colleagues but championed! Be that to senior management or to other co-workers to ensure rollout across the business I always felt like people were valuing my contributions.

My assigned manager was pretty poor in this regard. I was lucky enough to find another mentor in the office who provided an abundance of support, but I only actually met with my Line manager 2 or 3 times 1:1 over the year and it felt like he had little sight of the work I was doing or how I was holding up.

Mostly I was swamped! Now a lot of that was my own doing - Community Energy is still a very dynamic subset of E.ON UK and as a result there's always stuff to be taken on/improved if you seek it out. Especially at the end it was probably a little too much- but the point is inly never a shortage of interesting work if you're pro-active!

Loads - I got the chance to deliver a construction £50,000 budget which is ridiculous, as well as setting up another one with a £126,000 budget. My contract work informed the temperature set points for the power plants across the entire fleet, and the unresolved call I chaired was essential for getting customers' complaints resolved.

I'm sure the skills and experience I picked up on this placement will be invaluable in my future academic studies and professional life. In terms of understanding a business and its machinations, the human side of working in an office, managing people safely, finance, time management and planning - not to mention general tips for professional development. (I've already secured another summer placement thanks to these!)

Really positive, everyone on the whole is very friendly to one another and make a clear effort to integrate you into the community. There's plenty of workplace patter and banter so it never feels like anyone is taking themselves too seriously and people often lunch together/ grab impromptu drinks after work.

This was another development area for the business - it was intended that I do 4 3-month placements but ended up doing 1 4-month and 1 8-month. That allowed me the flexibility to succeed (as I was very proactive in seeking out work) - but if OI hadn't been I think I would've suffered from no clear plan for my time with the company.

Compared with other interns in the business I was left sorely lacking here. Others received IOSH training, as well as several CPD programs and CSCS certificates. I wasn't put onto or encouraged to take part in any of these (management said they didn't have time or financial resource) which felt slightly unfair.

I entered through the undergraduate fast-track process (this skips typical stages like testing and a telephone interview) and then attended an assessment centre to review my time on placement, as well as typical activities including a case study and role play. I was successful and offered a place on the graduate scheme when I leave university!

Everyone really friendly and always made an effort.

It's London - my rent alone for the year cost £9,000, with bills it all came to around £9,500. They try to mitigate this with a London weighted allowance but this is taxable and doesn't even cover the difference in rent. Obviously eating and travel is also far more expensive (though I was luck enough to live within walking distance of work and saved ~£1,000 over the year as a result.

Again, it's London so it's always a double-edged sword. Undoubtedly the myriad options here are better than you'll find anywhere else (be that bars, pubs, karaoke, golf, Ping-Pong, the theatre, clubs etc.) but it'll cost an arm and a leg to partake in any and all of them. The opportunity is certainly there though if you budget carefully!

No sport or other regular events organised.