Industrial placement Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at Network Rail, the year was a valuable learning curve and provided me with great experience and insight into the industry I would like to work in once I've graduated.

I felt an integral part of the team, I was relied on by them to complete work that was important to delivering our objectives.

There was a very good support structure in place with both assignment managers and practice managers that were very approachable and ready to solve any issues you may have. I met with my practice manager once a month where we reviewed the work I had carried out and also were on hand to offer development and goal setting advice.

There were days when you were clearly busier than others but I always had work to do and learnt some very useful time management skills and techniques.

I was given responsibility from day one at Network Rail. You are given real responsibility from day one. You will be carrying out important work that has real benefits to the function, organisation and ultimately the customer

There were many development opportunities that were available for me to complete, these sessions, workshops and training days were key to my overall development over the year. The work I carried out was related to my degree and also went above and beyond learning new technical and professional skills I hadn't learnt at university. I have found many of these skills useful so far whilst working on my final year project/dissertation.

The atmosphere in the office was a formal business environment whist working agile, this showed a huge amount of trust in employees to be getting on with their work.

Very well organised and took into account your degree to correctly place you wherever would be most beneficial for you.

There were many courses, workshops and training sessions available alongside virtual learning.

Very appealing with the ability to progress and hit the ground running should you return to Network Rail. The contacts you make allow you to set up rotations on the graduate scheme before you return.

Yes, particularly amongst fellow placements and graduates, although there were plenty of permanent staff that also got involved.

Very reasonable compared to other offices in London.

The nightlife in the location of my offices was not great but it is easily commutable to both London and even Birmingham.

Yes there were a large number of social clubs to get involved in from football to rock climbing.