Power Academy Placement Student Review

I was not expected to shadow people - the engineering problem was passed to us, to provide a real engineering solution at the end. This kind of responsibility is very rare from companies within this sector, and it is important to understand their appreciation for young talent.

I was made to feel very welcome and at ease within the office environment at National Grid. The employees were extremely approachable, and always happy to help. There was a real sense of appreciation for the students as a whole.

Throughout the placement, I feel that decisions made by the team, and ideas generated from our meetings, were always backed by our line manager. The project was always set up to achieve a specification, so guidance was inevitable.

At the start of the placement, there are the obvious tasks that require significant amounts of reading and research, to get to grips with the project. Once this has been carried out, you are very much in charge of your own work load; setting targets to achieve by certain deadlines. This brings in a very real sense of corporate pressure, to have things done, by set times, which is great to get accustomed to at such an early stage in ones career.

I was allowed to take control of my project, and pursue avenues that fell both inside and outside of the project specification. As previously stated, I was not expected to merely shadow someone, yet quite oppositely, merged into an environment that demands high quality, technical outputs.

Not only did this placement provide me with motivation as to what my degree can be applied to, it also allowed me to see the real value of my degree to employers like National Grid, through schemes such as the Power Academy.

The office contained a wide variety of personalities, and an immense wealth of knowledge. Everyone knew that if there was something that they didn't know, somebody else would be able to help you out. This process immerses you into a wider network of people, and also provides the opportunity to explore the different departments of the company, and their various operations.

The HR department of National Grid put a lot of effort into making the placement run as smooth and efficiently as possible. The organisation of things like company laptops, and travel expenses, up to site visits and corporate seminars were incredibly well planned and thought out.

National Grid invested a lot of time and money into ensuring the Power Academy students achieved the most out of their placement as possible. Opportunities to develop your presentation skills, report writing, and time management are just some of the things that constantly arose throughout the placement.

Through the Power Academy, I am able to work for National Grid every summer of my degree, for 8 weeks. This has lead to an accelerated path to the graduate scheme, and hopefully a job in the future, with National Grid.

Living in the same house as the fellow Power Academy students, and other Internship Students meant that we became a very close group after 8 weeks in Leamington. Travelling in to work, meeting up for lunch, and going to the gym after work, every day, meant that we were in each other's company for long periods of time, so it was ever likely that everyone got on well. I feel that the relationships formed with my fellow students will be maintained for the remaining years of the Power Academy, and hopefully some time after.

Rent can be expensive in Leamington, so be sure to look around if your placement is based here. The National Grid bus collects you from the train station, so the closer you can live to this, the better. With this reduced distance to the station, comes and increased cost of rent, so finding a balance can be difficult for a tenancy period as short as 8 weeks.

There are several great nights out to be had in Leamington, from bars and clubs, to live music lounges and restaurants.

I was encouraged to join the football team, which is extremely well organised, and everything is arranged by staff, for staff. Various gym classes were on during the day, and personal trainers are on offer to help you craft your own routine. There are also cinemas, parks and leisure centres in the town to take full advantage of.