Student Operational Researcher Review

I enjoyed my placement greatly! I had the opportunity to work in a number of different areas and on a lot of different projects. Through on-the-jon training and external induction/training course, I learnt many different skills and gained knowledge, all of which will greatly enhance my CV. Working at the Department also gave me the chance to meet many people and explore the world of public sector working.

I felt greatly valued as I was given significant levels of responsibility throughout my placement, which helped build my confidence. Within the team, there was always a colleague I could turn to if help was required.

My line manager and the rest of my colleagues were extremely helpful and easy to approach when I required assistance. I was also given the option to go on any training course I wanted to, in order to get a better understanding of the Department, computer software, or to help build personal skills.

I was fairly busy everyday, with different projects coming in all the time, there was always something to do. However, I did get the odd "dry" day, which I spent doing my university work, but if I did not have that to do I would imagine I would have been a little bored.

I was given a high level of responsibility, righ from the start of my placement. I was involved with producing a feedback proforma, which was sent out to many NHS organisations. I also built tools using Excel and VBA to analyse data. All these tools will be continued to be used in the future, therefore it is good to know I was working on projects that will make a difference.

I developed skills I had prior to entering my placement, such as Excel, Access and VBA skills, however I had the chance to gain new skills in programs such as SPSS, Unify2 and Oracle SQL, all of which I had never used. When I started my placement, I had many induction courses which informed me about my team and the Department. Over the year, I attended many more induction and training course. The Department is great at providing you with useful training and helping you develop key skills. I was able to apply some skills I had learnt through my degree to my day tasks, but most of the stuff I learnt at university could not be applied. However, when it came to writing my placement essay, my colleagues were more than happy to help me brainstorm ideas, proof read and suggest improvements.

Very friendly atmosphere where you can easily approach anyone if you want to.

The Department has had many placement students over the year, therefore know how to structure the placement. Many line managers within the Department were placement students themselves, which means they know exactly how to get the most out of you and your year on placement.

Most of the training was "on-the-job", this is because I learn through practice, however, if you want to go on a training course, your line manager would be more than happy to send you on one. Towards the end of my year, my line manager recognised that I needed to boost my presentational skills, therefore sent me on a training course in London, which was really useful.

Due to the current recruitment freeze, there will be no jobs opening in the future. However, if I am keen to return, there is a "Fast Stream" process uping, which works off a six-month rotation scheme and allows you to fast-track up the career ladder, although this is very difficult to get into.

Amongst colleagues in my team, there are nights out organised every one or two months, which are a good laugh. There are almost always a meeting after work on a friday amongst colleagues at a local pub. There are many placement students in the Leeds building of the Deparment and we meet quite often. One thing us placement students did together was organise the Analysts' Christmas party, which was a good experience.

Living and socialising costs were fairly reasonable. As I had a monthly income, I was more than capable of living on my budget.

Good! There are a lot of clubs, bars and pub that are close to work.

I was only really away from work when attending training course. There is a team sports day, but that was organised for just after I finished placement.