Service Take On Business Analyst (Industrial Placement) Review

I really enjoyed my year with CC. I was given real work and responsibility, but with a very strong support network helping me to deliver. The people oriented company culture makes it a really easy to build relationships with people, both senior and junior. On top of that I was treated as an adult and trusted to do the right thing.

I was by far the youngest in my team (second youngest was 15+ years older than me), so I needed to have a good sense of humor (as you can imagine!) I was very much part of the banter and jokes, and if you're not able to adapt to it you may struggle, if you are able to adapt to it however you will find most work days quite hilarious. My team always spoke highly of me to others and gave me good feedback to my colleagues. They also valued my input and saw me as an asset to the team once I had established myself.

Amazing support from all of the team, not just management. My manager was always their for me when I needed her, always finding the time even when a lot of time wasn't available. As a result of this support and my hardwork, I was able to extend my contract and make it part-time at the end of my 12 months. My mentor used her network to get me in contact with people I wanted to speak to, other team members supported when ever i had questions or needed their support. Overall I never really felt alone when tackling problems and always had amazing support.

My workload fluctuated throughout the year, but generally it grew as I went on and I became more competent. In general, I found the balance in my work to be good as at the start I was given less ( reflecting my inexperience) and still felt quite busy. Whereas at the end I was giving more (reflecting my experience), so I was felt quite busy. As a caveat, due to the nature of the work we do in IT, there were times of intense work and other more peaceful times.

I was quite lucky in my placement as my skill-set (numeracy, technical analytical skills, excel) wasn't as prevalent meaning that over time I was able to become an asset to my team (by being given the work that required the aforementioned skills). All of this meant I was given some projects to work that I had a key role to play in which I really enjoyed. In the latter half of my placement, I also worked on two of our biggest customers, given a good amount of responsibility to start with which eventually grew.

I think for me my key takeaways are the soft skill development. The 'harder' skills like excel etc I could have learnt in spare time - however things like presentation skills, communication, office conduct, how to ask help etc I could not have learnt without doing this placement. I will take these skills and build on them for the rest of my life.

Office changed depending on where I needed to be but generally very good

I was the first in my team, so my year was a trial to see if it works. so my enjoyment was not due to a set process being there but rather because of the fantastic support network I had. Without that I may not have developed as much.

I don't think too comfortable rating this one, as I never really asked for any professional qualifications and therefore did not receive any. However I am fairly sure that had I asked for some I would have been given the opportunity to take them. In terms of more general training (i.e Excel, powerpoint, thinking on your feet) I had no problem with those. My manager always accepted it.

Easily comeback if I the right role is offered.

Very fun and enjoyable - especially as I was in London.

London is not the cheapest but I was at home so i had quite a lot of disposable income.