Summer Scheme Student Review

This was the best work placement I have done. The week was incredibly well organised by the HR team and by the members of the team that I was sitting in. Although the placement was only for a week due to Covid, I was able to gain a good insight on the work of the company through the tasks I was set, but also through the conversations I had with people from different departments and through the departmental talks.

As a work placement student, I felt valued as part of my team. I was given responsibility and was trusted with tasks which helped me feel like a valued member of the team. As a student I feel like I was valued in terms of the potential I could bring, even though I was not an expert in the field. I was not made to feel uncomfortable or out of place at any point during the week.

Savill's staff members provided me with a lot of guidance and were willing to take significant amounts of time out of their day in order to help me understand the processes of the company, as well as to help me complete the tasks I was set. Staff members were willing to have general chats and to give me guidance with how I should proceed in my career development, as well as to tell me about the specifics of their role.

The skills developed and the knowledge acquired will be hugely useful in my degree studies and beyond. I am about to begin a master's degree in a related field and I believe that the insight week will influence my module choice. It has been great to see a connection between the things that I will learn about theoretically at uni and how they can be applied in reality. This is particularly important in the context of the commercial side of real estate.

The insight was well structured. The site visits, educational talks and meetings with staff from different teams allowed me to form a rounded picture in my mind of how the company works. These also complemented the work I was doing and enhanced my understanding of the different tasks I was given. I was allocated a mentor and supervisor. Knowing that I had a specific person to whom I could address my questions was really helpful and gave me the confidence I needed to ask questions when I was unsure of something.

The atmosphere during the insight was welcoming and supportive. Initially, I was nervous as I had never done a placement at a big corporate company. However, I was immediately made to feel at home on arrival in my team. My team colleagues made a lot of effort to take me on site visits, through which I was able to sense their enthusiasm for their work. This made me feel all the more engaged during my placement.

I was given a lot of personal training and development. The departmental talks allowed me to enhance my theoretical knowledge of the concepts underlying the business. Meetings with members from different teams allowed me to gain an insight on different areas of the company beyond the specific team I was in. Even though the placement was only one week long, I had an appraisal at the end which helped me consolidate what I had learnt.

I got a very good insight into what it would be like to have a full time role within the firm within my team. Speaking to members from different departments also gave me a good insight into what working in other areas would be like. People also took the time to explain how the grad scheme works and what different qualifications you can take as part of it. This has allowed me to gain a good insight into what I could expect if I were to join the company full time.

Because I was able to talk to so many different people and get an insight on so many departments, I was able to gain a good understanding of the company culture. From what I understand from a student perspective. The company values team work and personal development highly. I understand that they also put a lot of time and effort into investing in their graduates by giving them lots of rotations so that by the end of the grad scheme one has a very good insight on the different paths available.

The content was valuable in helping me decide on my future career path, as I got to practise the tasks that form part of the day to day life of a surveyor. It was also useful to speak to team members and understand how they got to where they are and to hear them discuss what they like or dislike about their job. The only downside of the scheme was that it was quite short so I only got a short time to sample what it would be like.

Reimbursed up to £100 for food and travel for the week. Fine for me because I am based in London, but difficult for people who had to commute in from further away or even book a hotel for the week I imagine.

In spite of the absence of social events due to Covid 19, I met plenty of people from different departments and was able to talk to them about my experiences and receive advice. My team mentor actively set up meetings for me with people from other departments so that I could understand other areas of the business. Because the company is large and I was encouraged to network, I feel like I met plenty of people.

Sadly, due to Covid 19, I understand that the HR team were not able to set up as many social events as they normally would. I believe that during normal times this aspect of the insight scheme would be better. Nonetheless, I feel like I was able to network sufficiently due to the encouraging atmosphere and open attitude of Savills' staff. We still had a welcome breakfast on the first day to meet the other interns which was great.

From what I have heard, employees take part in lots of activities outside of work, both with other members from the company and with clients. I understand that these may include sporting or social activities. I have not directly asked anyone about this yet but it's a good thing to find out about so I will be doing that soon. My assumption is that during normal non Covid times, things are probably quite sociable as even the initial summer scheme description proposed several social events during the week.

I would definitely recommend this insight to a friend, especially anyone who is curious about finding out more about many different aspects of real estate all in one go as people from many different departments are really willing to discuss their experiences. I would also recommend the scheme to anyone who is apprehensive about going to a corporate environment as the company is, in reality, very friendly and fun. Even though the scheme was only one week long, I feel like I learnt a huge amount.