Sandwich Placement Student Review

by Savills

Best Student Employer

Rating

4.9/5
  • The Role
    4.8
  • The Company
    5.0
  • The Culture
    5.0

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
  • My year with Savills as a placement student is everything I expected and more. I did a 12 month placement in Savills Business Space Property Management team where I was involved in the management of properties on 6 portfolio’s mainly based in London. Before joining I was expecting my involvement to be on the level of work experience tasks. However, I think it would be fair to say that as a Placement Student at Savills you are treated as a Graduate Surveyor. The main difference is that I had 12 months in Property Management rather than a 4 month rotation. This meant that I had an opportunity to develop relationships with the tenants, clients and building management team as well as continuously improving my property management knowledge. At university I have a module called “Property Management” where we were taught the fundamental principles of Property Management, such as; service charge, landlord & tenant, assignments etc. This module at university was very well structured and helped prepare me for my placement year. It meant that when my line manager asked me to complete a task such as, recommend an assignment of a lease to the client, I already had the base knowledge of what to do. Although I was a Placement Student in Property Management I had the mindset that I was also a Placement Student at Savills, meaning that I was keen to learn about the wider Savills Business. Throughout the year I got in contact with surveyors from different part of the business to understand what they did. I emailed the surveyors after listening to a talk they did, or if I had worked with them on a project on a property I manage, or searched on LinkedIn for Savills employees with a mutual connection I had. My line manager was very understanding of this and was more than happy for me to go for a coffee or site visit with these people I spoke with. The whole Savills Property Management department are incredibly friendly, supportive and understanding. They were all more than willing to help whenever I had a question. The social side of work has been great as well. There was a group of us that would go for drinks after work every Thursday, and they were very keen that I go along with them in my first couple weeks. The Christmas party is undoubtedly the highlight of the placement calendar. Having had a couple mates do Placement years with various other firms all over the country I am of the opinion that the Savills Placement scheme is the best.

    5/5

  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
  • There was never a moment where I didn’t feel valued. My line manager was extremely organised and made sure that I was involved in all aspects of managing the buildings. From arranging a site inspection to attending a client meeting I was involved. I never felt like I missed out or excluded on anything. One thing that I really appreciated was that my opinion was valued, not only with my team, but also with the clients, Building Managers, Client Accountants, Credit Controllers etc. I had many conversations with these people where they asked for my opinion on a variety of matters. Even if they disagreed with my opinion, my opinion was still asked for, which has been really appreciated. During lockdown my team had a daily Microsoft Teams call at 09:00. Every day my line manager checked that I had enough work to be getting on with and making sure that everything was okay with me. It was a great way to stay in contact with everyone and maintain the team feeling.

    5/5

  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
  • I found that there was formal and informal support and guidance. Formal: I had 2 appraisals with my line manager during my 12 month Placement. One is March and one in June. Both gave me and my line manager a chance to catch up formally and discuss what I have done well and where I can improve. 4 months into my placement year I had a meeting with a member of the graduate HR team. The meeting was to have a catch up and see how I was settling in. There were also lots of seminars throughout the 12 months. They covered a variety of topics ranging from creating a personal brand to how to succeed with your APC. Informal: As we all know surveying is a social industry. So many times I found myself speaking with other surveyors in Savills where advice was passed on. I found asking about previous graduate surveyors and Placement Students and what made a successful one is the best way to find out what is expected throughout my 12 placement.

    5/5

  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
  • There was a perfect work balance. There was never a moment where I didn’t have something to do, but equally I never felt overwhelmed by the work I needed to do. My line manager was very good at providing tasks for me to complete and ensuring that I experienced enough APC level 3 worthy tasks such as lease assignments, approving LTA’s, CRAR recommendations etc. Although my contracted hours were 09:00 to 17:30 I made the choice to get into the office no later than 08:30 and leave no earlier than 18:00. I found that by having the extra half an hour in the morning it have me the opportunity go through my emails and figure out what I needed to do during the day and the extra half an hour in the evening gave me an opportunity to update my APC diary. That is the method I found most effective to manage my workload and ensure that every task I completed was done to the highest level.

    5/5

  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
  • Given that I am not RICS accredited I never had 100% responsibility of any building. However, I was the main point of contact for several buildings and I managed the day to day management. If there was a task that required client approval, such as service charge budgets, LTA recommendations or a tenant dispute, I would come up with an answer and speak with my line manager to see if she agreed with my opinion. I think that this is the perfect level of responsibility as I never felt out of my depth as my line manager was able to support me.

    4/5

  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
  • I am a Real Estate student at Sheffield Hallam University so the skills that I have developed over the past year will be invaluable to my final year of university. Equally, the knowledge that I gained during my work experience and university work prior to joining Savills has been very beneficial to my placement year and put me in a great position so have a strong start back in September. The contacts that I made during my placement year will be very helpful when it comes to writing my dissertation.

    5/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
  • 5/5

  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
  • 5/5

  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
  • 5/5

  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
  • Above 25 days holiday

    5/5

  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
  • 5/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
  • 5/5

  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
  • 5/5

  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
  • 5/5

  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
  • 5/5

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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

Property Management

London

August 2020


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