IT Industrial Placement Review

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my placement, it was great to be part of a fast paced and evolving department! I was given a lot of responsibility for projects that affect the company as a whole and participated in product roadshows and festivals all of which were a fantastic experience. The year has been invaluable for me and I believe it has really helped me develop as a person going into my final year at uni.

One of the main benefits for me in the placement was that at no point was I treated as "just an IP". Straight away I was thrown in at the deep end and got to work closely with many different members of staff throughout the department, with both parties relying on each other to get the job done. Towards the end of my placement I even had the responsibility of delegating tasks to certain members of the team, which I never believed I would do as a student.

My managers believed in an open door policy and if I ever had an issue I wouldn't hesitate to go and speak with them. With monthly check-up meetings and regular, more informal 'catch-ups' I always felt supported in every task that I worked on, both work-related and otherwise. The HR team are also always available and were really helpful with any problems I had.

Being split between 2 teams in the department I always had work to do, but never felt overwhelmed as I believe the balance was just right. Some days my project work would be more quiet, but with the IT department being so busy there is always something to do in the meantime!

The amount of responsibility I was given in the company surprised me greatly, with being relied on to delegate tasks to other members of the team, visiting sites/events on my own and working as a project manager on certain tasks I always felt like a real employee which was great.

I believe the skills I've developed over the course of this year will help me massively in the future, especially when looking for graduate jobs, it's been great to have experience in the working world and my confidence has increased greatly because of this.

The atmosphere in the department was great, everyone was always willing to have a laugh but always doing it in a professional way, I felt I could easily approach anyone and have developed some great relationships because of this.

From the outset it was clear that the HR team had put a lot of effort into making our placement the best that it could be and this continued throughout the year.

During the year the Industrial Placement students took part in 4 training sessions and an 'IP Project' that was not department specific at the end of this. This helped me improve my skills outside of the IT world and were also really enjoyable.

Employment prospects within PSA are great with a new wave of graduates recruited each year. The company are also open to graduates returning into a different department from the one which they spent their placement year in which is fantastic for students who discover what they want to do through their year.

As a group the IPs developed a great bond through social activities organised by the company and ourselves and I've made some great friendships through this. The year is what you make of it so take part in everything!

Coming from a small town Coventry was more expensive than what I was used to but not too expensive at all.

Coventry nightlife isn't fantastic but it does have plenty of bars which is good. It's also very close to Leamington Spa and Birmingham which are both great places for a night out.

The HR team organised quarterly nights out for the trainees (IPs, Business Apprentices and Graduates) and there were multiple sports clubs and societies available to join too. Most of the activities that I took part in were organised by our own group of trainees.