I had a great time at my placement. Atos is a very welcoming company with a relaxed office atmosphere, meaning i was able to make some great friends. The work was stimulating and varied on the whole, meaning that was enjoyable too.
Personally, I felt totally valued. I made close friends with a number of my teammates and beyond, and will definitely keep in touch with them. However sometimes the work did felt like it didn't add much value which could be frustrating.
I was given a lot of support from supervisors, but also a lot of freedom to do things on my own. The general formula was i was left to my own devices and then if anything was ambiguous i would speak with either my boss, my mentor, or my buddy (or anyone else involved in the project who could help).
I'd say on the whole I was constantly the right level of busy, however this was mostly my own doing. Much of the work I was doing was my own projects, meaning i had the flexibility to set my own work life balance to meet a project deadline. As a result I kept it within my own parameters of comfort.
It varied. On some projects I was given very little responsibility. However there were a number of projects with reasonable business importance in which i was given nearly free reign to do as i saw fit e.g. I organized and hosted a client event with over 40 key clients as part of a bid.
There was nearly no relevance to my degree in nearly any of the skills i learned. However I gained nearly invaluable team working and business skills that i will keep throughout my life. Moreover the perspective i have gained of working in a big company will surely shape my key decision making in the future, which is again invaluable.
Relaxed and professional. Everyone worked hard but was also free for a chat or a drink after work.
Atos took the great decision to leave the content of the placement scheme up to each intern's placement supervisor. My supervisor took time to get to know me and my skills/ likes before assigning me work that both stretched and stimulated me. Sometimes things weren't extremely well organized but this tailored approach is the only way a placement should be run in my opinion.
I had a huge amount of virtual training available and went on a number of training courses over the year. Some of these were multi day off site courses.
Flexi Time
Subsidised/Company Gym
National Travel
The company intakes around 150 graduates in september, just after you have gotten settled. Once this happens the social scene really ignites.
Central London is extraordinarily expensive, but with a spoons across the road from the office it wasn't too prohibitive.
Central London is a lot of fun, just quite expensive!
This is really the unique selling point of this placement. There is so much to do to get your name out there and figure out what you like. I ran an internal fundraising team for a charity, hosted sessions between our senior executives and the graduate, intern & apprentice community, delivered a pitch to our 'pitch club' - a forum to practice your pitching skills to senior sales leaders. There is an endless supply of things to get involved with, and if you cant find something you can make one!
Placement Year (10 Months+)
19th June 2020