Summer Scheme Student Review

The internship was very engaging and provided a comprehensive introduction to the various work undertaken within the rural department. The teams i worked in were very helpful and friendly, and gave me a varied range of work that i was trusted to undertake without direct supervision. The work was engaging and highly topical, often building upon knowledge i have acquired during my university studies and previous work experience. However, the majority of tasks were new to me, and therefore excellent learning. Due to external factors i was unable to attend as many site visits as i and my team would have liked, however this was due to factors outside of the company's control.

I felt valued by my colleagues. I was given challenging work that was rewarding in two main ways. Firstly, the majority of work was new to me, and therefore provided excellent learning in a real-world situation. Secondly, the work i was given was related to ongoing projects being undertaken by my team, which motivated me to deliver results, improving my confidence.

I felt that i received good guidance from management and my colleagues. The majority of day-to-day supervision was undertaken by graduate and associate colleagues as opposed to my line managers, but this arrangement worked well and i was happy to have a relatively high level of autonomy on a day-to-day basis.

I felt that i was busy and engaged the majority of the time. As i spent two weeks in Agency and two weeks in Management, there was a significant amount of work provided by colleagues. This arrangement worked well, and while certain days were busier and others were quieter than others, i felt that my workload was manageable.

I felt that i was giving relatively significant responsibility during my placement considering my lack of experience. I showed prospective tenants around residential lets, drafted residential tenancies, communicated with contractors and clients via telephone, and provided statistical and written research on subjects that were of significance to the Rural team and used in notable publications.

I believe that the skills i have developed and the training i have received will stand me in good stead moving forwards. The placement has motivated me to enagage with topics relating to rural surveying during my masters degree, and i have identified several key areas that i need to prioritise. Futhermore, the placement has giving me an excellent experience of working full time in a busy office, which has improved my confidence and ability to operate in a fast paced environment.

The work placement was largely well set up in terms of the work within the rural team. The two teams i worked with communicated well with one another to ensure there was not too much overlap with one another. However, there were a few administrative issues due to confusion as to who my team secretary was, as i worked in several teams did therefore not have a clearly defined contact, although this was resolved in good time.