Student Packaging Technologist Review

I enjoyed my placement, and feel that I had a wide range of opportunities within my field. I had the chance to work on my own projects as well as assist other members of the team with their projects, this in turn was a rewarding experience as I was able to launch products within the time of my placement. I also had the opportunity to visit suppliers and liaise with other professionals within the food sector which is also a valuable experience.

I feel that I was valued by most of my colleagues. The office was rather large, with around 50 colleagues, hence it was difficult to interact with most on a daily basis. However, the majority of my colleagues made me feel valued and welcomed whilst I was on my placement. Also, there was the opportunity for placement students to plan and organise events for the entire office, which was a great way to interact with other colleagues. I definitely felt valued by my team of packaging technologists.

My line manager was somewhat supportive. They would offer me help and guidance when I was in desperate need. However, if I had an issue I sometimes felt that this was not always resolved in the most appropriate way. However, I did have a mentor who was in a senior position who offered me excellent support on a day to day basis.

I often had several project deadlines that I would have to meet. I would be responsible for submitting artworks on a weekly basis which would be the bulk of my workload. However, overall I did not feel like I was very busy and would have preferred to have more jobs to do. I was often given small scale things to do that would only take around an hour.

I was given a small project of my own, to work on towards the end of the placement, this was a fantastic opportunity and gave me a chance to work independently. I was responsible for attending conference calls on a weekly basis and representing the packaging team. Also, I was often given jobs to complete independently which was a great to develop my skills.

I have definitely developed on a wide range of skills that I will utilise in my final year of studies and for the my entire career. I have increased communication skills from interacting with suppliers and other colleagues. I now also have excellent organisational skills which I will use for all aspects of my life. I have developed in confidence from delivering presentations. Overall I feel that I have benefitted from my placement experience and have learnt many things that I would not have if I did not do a placement. I received training in Microsoft, which is a software used by lots of companies, and I also received lots of training specific to my role as a student packaging technologist.

the atmosphere in the office was mostly friendly and welcoming. It was an open plan office and each team was mixed in terms of seating arrangements. For example I was seated next to a sauces development technologist, which was great to be able to interact with people from other departments. In general, it was a fairly quiet and productive atmosphere.

overall, the placement was fairly organised, senior members of staff arranged cohort visits to other sites as part of the placement experience. As Premier has accommodated placement students for many years now I feel that they are well prepared and organised for us. When I Initially started the placement everything I needed had already been arranged for me which was great.

I was given the opportuinity to attend visits at other packaging suppliers which was paid by the company. I aslo had the chance to go to several exhibitions and shows, such as Food matters live, and the packaging Innovations show, which were great for my own personal development. I did not receive any formal training from an outside organisation.

I definitely enjoyed my placement year and feel that it was an invaluable experience. However, I did not like the location of the site that I was working at, hence I do not think that I would like to return. Also, I would prefer to work somewhere new once I graduate.

At premier there were 5 placement students, based at the same site as myself. This was a great atmosphere as I lived with 2 other placement students and car shared together with the other 2. So as a 5 we commuted into work each day. Overall, we felt respected and valued in the office.

I lived in Sheffield, which was reasonably priced overall. It was close to the city. I did not want to live in worksop where my placement was based as there is not a good atmosphere there for students. But Sheffield was a good priced big city for me.

The nightlife in Sheffield was great, there were many events on a Friday and Saturday night in the city centre. This was great at the end of the week. There was also lots of food and drink places which was fantastic. Again, in Worksop there is no nightlife, so I chose to live in Sheffield and commute 2 hours each day to work.

No there were not many opportunities outside of work to get involved in. There was a Christmas party in December and a student leaving event. But aside from those 2 events no other events took place outside of work. But however there were lots of small events that took place at work, such as bake sales and national cheese day.