Middle Office Administrator Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed this year, and cannot think of a better place to have done a placement. There are many perks to working at World First such as free breakfast and beer fridge on Fridays. The work is different every day as well, which is nice for learning new skills.

The people I worked with were all very good at explaining things as well as being patient. Everyone was very easy to get along with. When high volumes of work are executed, or if any good feedback comes from clients, the managers will often recognise this.

My manager has had regular one to one meetings with me, liaising that I am happy with various aspects of my work, for example that I have a reasonable workload, if there was any other parts I would like to learn more about etc. He has always been very open to suggestions and is always helpful.

The workload was always steady, which was good as there was always something to do. I have never felt as though I was either bored or overworked so I would say there was the perfect balance.

I was given as much responsibility as anyone else had on my team, which was good because this ensured I maximised my skills in multiple areas. It was nice to be able to also take ownership of various projects and help out when needed.

As I have taken an economics based degree, it was very useful to be working in a foreign exchange company. This has enabled to see the direct result of how extenuating circumstances such as politics, have affected the rates.

The office has always had a positive atmosphere. Having free breakfast definitely put people in the right frame of mind to start working and it was nice to be able to socialise and have discussions with people outside my immediate team when going to the kitchen. On Fridays when we have the beer fridge open, there is a really nice relaxed atmosphere that gets everyone ready for the weekend.

The placement year in itself was very well set up. I was in kept in close contact from the run up from when I was initially hired to when I began working, any concerns I had were quickly addressed. There was also a thorough plan for everything intended for me to get through and learn in my time here.

Whenever I had any questions or had anything I wanted to develop, the company was more than happy for me to focus on that. My manager has often asked where I am more keen on developing and what areas did I have more interest in to adjust the kind of tasks that I would be set.

There are many different teams to work on that have really interesting prospects. People are given the opportunity to develop different areas and every day is different. There is a lot of opportunity to grow a career there as well and staff are treated well, so I working here again is very appealing.

There is a good social scene in general, there are two annual parties which both had free food and drink and a really good atmosphere. There are also many team nights out to different places which are also paid for. The social team also organises various events on a regular basis for people to take part in.

As the company is based in central London, it wasn't the cheapest place to live or socialise. However this is easy to look past when there are so many exciting things to do and a lot going on. If you knew the right places to go of course, you could get drinks and food much cheaper.

There are a lot of local pubs and bars nearby, which is good when people wish to go out after work on a Friday. There are so many different types of clubs to choose from as well, so it is almost guaranteed that you will find somewhere you like any day of the week.

There were often activities in and around the Westminster area that we were welcome to take part in. Examples of this were darts, axe throwing and shuffle board. These were organised by the company at regular intervals, ensuring everybody who was interested had the opportunity to attend at least one of these events.