Technical Services Placement Review

As I was my first ever proper office job, it was very enjoyable experience as I got to meet tons of new people and I got to step out of my comfort zone and experiences new things. I really enjoyed the work/life balance that I got, it was really nice to have time to do all the things that I wanted to do after work like going to socialise with either my friends from home and university or with some of my work colleagues.

I definitely felt very valued by my colleagues as during my placement year as I never really felt like I was a placement student. I was treated like any other employee within the company, which felt really nice as you don't feel like you are being treated in a certain way because you are a placement student. I felt very valued by my team especially as they have never had a placement student within their team, so it was nice to included and part of the team.

I felt that I got all the support whenever I needed it. My manager was very supportive with what I wanted to achieve during my placement year and pushed me out of my comfort zone which is just what I needed to realise my full potential of what I can achieve within a small amount of time. I'm very grateful for all the support given by my manager and higher management as I got what I wanted out of the placement year, which was making an impact.

On a daily basis, there were some days where I was quite busy but not overwhelmingly busy and some days where there was not much going on. But, I was never just sitting there doing nothing, there was always something to do whether that was something really small or quite a big project that took a couple of days. I am so glad that I did get to experience a good balance of work everyday.

During my placement year, I was definitely given a lot of responsibility with my role. I had to take on a lot of projects which solely relied on myself to implement and complete during a certain amount of time. I did like this responsibility as it allowed myself to get a feel of what it would be like after completing my degree and joining a company and having a full-time job and finding how to organise myself to make sure I fulfilled all my responsibilities.

The skills that I have gained and developed over my placement year will definitely assist me in my degree studies and future career as the skills gained are for life. I developed a lot of my skills from the work that I was given and the responsibilities that I had to taken on in my role. The training I received will definitely further me in my career as having that experience will making my applications to future roles stand out.

Within the office, the atmosphere was hardworking but relaxed at the same time. Everyone gets on with their daily tasks and schedules but you do get to interact with others in the office to have a quick chat or walk around.

Overall, the work placement was set up really well but however as I was the first placement student within my role it was quite difficult at first as there was not much defined within my role but as time went on I got to manipulate the role in what I wanted to get out of my placement year which helped define what needed to be done for the next student to take on the role.

In terms of personal training and development, my manager invested a lot time in for me, to make sure that I got the best placement experience. I got pushed out of my comfort zone a few times, which I didn't enjoy at first but then I did take quite a liking to it. I also developed quite a lot of my skills through various tasks and projects set so I'm very grateful that I did get that opportunity.

There is definitely a chance of future employment with the organisation, as long as you perform to the best of your ability and put the hard work in and show that you are capable, there is a more chance that they would have you back as a full-time graduate. The organisation loves to have the graduates back

Yes definitely, all of us placement students got on very well from the beginning and most of us would say that we have made friends for life with us placement students and other colleagues. As most of the placement student are around the same age, you have loads to talk about and it's nice to have others which are going through the same experience as yourself so you don't feel alone in any way as it definitely scary at the start.

The cost of living and socialising is quite expensive as the role is within the central part of London. If you look properly you could find cheap places to socialise and if you live just out of Central London, you could find a place to live for a decent price. As it is London, it tends to be quite expensive wherever you go, it just really depends on whether you would want to spend a lot on living out or commuting in.

There was a lot of nightlife in the area I worked in. Working in London has it's perks especially working in the Shoreditch area. There is lots of bars and restaurants to try out.

There was a lot of opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work as we had monthly company socials where anyone in the office could go along to a planned social and have fun after work.