Junior RPA Developer Review

I really enjoyed the overall placement. The beginning was rather rough and slow to being with but over time it got easier. Once it picked up, I felt I was being engaged a lot more and involved with projects which really mattered and were business crucial. At that, the time went by really quickly for me.

I felt I was relied on for some of the responsibilities. Initially, I was given a small piece of work to help with but it gradually grew larger and larger to the point where I was running team meetings and providing catch-up sessions for colleagues. For the role I was put into, I definitely felt essential and valued since my team needed me to carry out the work otherwise no one else would.

The support and guidance was always offered by my manager. We set up a meeting to catch-up on my professional development along with any other outstanding tasks which needed to be pushed at that time. My manager was truthful throughout the time when things didn't go according to plan and provided the guidance on the next steps to take in the professional environment.

Initially I was free for the first 2 weeks to do additional learning on the company's learning portal. Once the projects came it, I've never had that kind of free time since. The role I was given had a lot of responsibility as the team was quite small for project delivery. It was difficult to find the free time to participate in the company's intern/placement student events, but my manager was very supportive to find that time so long as it didn't conflict with key delivery dates.

I had a lot of responsibility during my placement. If I didn't complete the jobs/work I was given, the project delivery would be delayed or completed halted. I was pretty much given enough daily responsibilities for it to be ongoingly progressive. Along with that came the mobility to take the initiative on making choices which would be supported by my manager.

I was lucky enough to do a placement relevant to my degree studies. As such, the placement has helped me develop my skills on the application of my studies being used in the industry. The specific skills I have learned to properly use through my placement year will definitely by universally applicable to my future career.

The atmosphere in my office was not what I initially expected. I was placed on a different location site than I expected which was office based with hot seat desks. The overall atmosphere of the office is that it's very busy. Everyone is rushing around to finish something. Meetings going on everywhere. If you weren't busy, it would feel like something is wrong.

The placement scheme was well organised overall considering the number of placements roles which are offered for the year. I was provided with a quick two day induction into the company before being sent to my base location. The work provided came in the timely manner which was decided by my manager. The set expectations between both myself and my manager meant there were no unexpected surprises.

The company offers plenty of personal training and development. They also offer an overall scheme with badges to help push placement students into taking the initiative to explore their own development opportunities. The problem for myself was finding the free time to complete the online courses or signing up for the events. I essentially shadowed my manager, and got some of the personal professional development through that method.

Very appealing as they offer a wide range of possible opportunities. I've met so many people who I've wanted to see more of what they do as it's an area of interest for myself. All of these opportunities can be see on the company's intranet portal but can also be found through other ways by networking at key events which you can easily get involved in!

There definitely was a good social scene that was available at both my base location and the main headquarters. I was able to get a mix of both social environments during my placement. I joined a few available night outs such as quiz nights and escape rooms. Everyone was really to head to a local event on Friday nights.

For my base location, the cost of living was relatively low and socialising was rather difficult since I was in the outskirts of Greater London. Most of the placement students in my cohort were based in Central London. I often had to travel into the city to socialise with my colleagues for events.

For my base location, there were only 2-3 other placement students which made it difficult to enjoy the nightlife. The night life was definitely available but it was about finding the time to meet up and go out. In addition, the long distance travel I had to do to get to work also made it difficult for nights out on a weekday.

There were plenty of opportunities to get involved with activities outside of work. The placement role community had a slack channel dedicated to broadcasting these types of events which made it a lot easier for someone like myself who is not based in the main headquarters' location, to find these activities.