Product Design Intern Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement year at pladis. I have achieved much more than I thought I would, working on real projects in the food industry and building my technical knowledge. I feel it has given me a real head start when coming to apply for graduate schemes in my final year.

I have always felt very valued by my colleagues. My manager constantly told me the value that my work had on the team and the wider business. I have been recognised for good work through verbal praise, social media forums, emails and even won a pladis award where I received vouchers.

I felt very supported by my manager. We had weekly 1:1's where I could ask for help or more work and to go through my development plan- anything I wanted to work on or achieve in the year. I also had a supportive team who I could go to for support.

As you would expect, every day was different and there were times where I had lots to be getting on with and quieter days but the balance was good.

The responsibility was great as it meant I learnt things much quicker and achieved a lot! I led my own project from the beginning of my placement, and although this sounded daunting, I was well supported and it gave me confidence to take on and lead more throughout the year.

I have developed my technical knowledge at lot during this year, and had a holistic insight into product development in the food industry. Not only will all my experience from this year aid me in getting a job after graduation, but I also have a better understanding of what different job roles involve and therefore which ones I will apply to.

The atmosphere was great as it was quite a young team so we all got on well from the start! The site often organised after work drinks, BBQ's and sporting activities which was great to get involved in and meet people you didn't directly work with in a relaxed environment.

Personal development of employees is something pladis does very well! I set challenging objectives with my manager for the year and achieved them all. I could choose to work on projects which interested me the most and also put myself forward for any training I wanted to. As a community of 12 interns across the business, we also met up for modules 4 times during the year including, insights, presentation skills, personal branding and career planning/next steps.

I would definitely consider pladis as a future employer.

There was a group of interns spread across 4 sites over the UK. We met up for modules 4 times during the year which often involved overnight stays, dinner and drinks. It was great to have this network and compare our placements. At the site I was based there was one other intern, which made settling in much easier.

There were social events such as evening drinks organised after work once a month. There was also charity events such as a 24-hr squash-a-thon, site BBQ'S and yoga at lunch time. Many people are members of sports teams together, outside of work, which everyone is encouraged to get involved in.