Summer Placement Student Review

For the most part I did really enjoy the placement as the work I was doing was really interesting and the people around me were for the most part easy to get along with. It was also great to hear about what other people were doing. However I did find it hard when the people who were overseeing my work were away for a while. I also felt I needed slightly more check-ups on my progress as I did go down the wrong direction a few times with my work.

I felt the work I was doing was quite valued by a few colleges, but most of my colleagues were working on very different things, so I don't see how I could have added value their work. However I don't think this affect my relationship with my colleges as this is natural for this kind of work.

I was given support when I asked for it from both my colleges and my line manager, however for parts I was left to work things out on my own as my manager was quite busy. I think it could have been beneficial to have been given a bit more guidance at the start, but I managed to work things out eventually.

I wasn't that busy for the most part as I was only working on one project and was not being seen over by managers on that regular a basis. I did however get given more work when I felt I had got the hang of what I was given and showed it to my manager.

I think I was given a fair amount of responsibility for the experience I had. I don't really know as I don't know what will happen to my work once I leave. However if the results of my work would be directly used I would feel the responsibility I was given would be great.

I think the skills I have learnt can be directly transferred to my degree studies. I have developed analytical skills which could prove really useful in the future and the amount of independence I was given on the project really developed my time management skills as well as my self motivation and perseverance.

Open, very friendly when you talked to people, however most people were engrossed in their own work.

The placement was in the form of a project. It felt similar to what I would expect a small masters project to be like. I was given a general overview of the topic and then told about work other people had done on the project. My task was to take this project forward further. I was given advice on how to take it forward

The learning was done on the job. No formal training for the work I was doing, but there was formal training for health and safety etc. I believe however I got the information I needed to do the job. This was in the form of old reports I had to read and public online courses. There were plenty of opportunities for development though talks on other peoples work and talks on the general state of business in the organisation

There are some parts of the job I think that I can see future employment would be quite exciting. However I don't think I would be that drawn to doing the same type of task I did for this internship. Although I am proud of the work I have done I personally felt I would want slightly more variety in my future work.

Every now and then many of my fellow placement students and I would go down to the pub. I went out for a meal with all my colleges within the group I was working in to say goodbye to another college. We also spent most lunches together, which I thought was nice.

Cost of living was quite good. I found accommodation for under £100 a week. I was able to get the company organised shuttle bus into work, however getting back I mostly had to take public transport, but that wasn't too bad if you got a week pass. The cost of socialising seemed much cheaper than living in London.

There was not that much I found to do at night in the area I was living in, but was probably because I didn't try that hard to find anything... I mostly went home for weekends. There are however large cities nearby by train e.g. Southampton, Bristol, Bath ect, which I know do have a good nightlife.

There were plenty of opportunities to get into sports and social activities this was mostly though the new starters union which although I did not use that often, found really good.