This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
As the year is now almost over I can look back and say that I did learn a lot during the placement and we did get to see some interesting things that I may never have been able to see before. However a lot of time was also spent not actually learning anything and simply waiting for work to be given to us. Therefore although it was not "A Struggle" it is far from "Best Job Ever".
There were opportunities to meet with colleagues outside of work in a social setting on multiple occasions, although I did not attend every one due to travel restrictions I believe that an effort was made to value myself and other placement students. However on multiple occasions those in positions higher than mine forgot my name, this could be due to the large size of the company.
There was a lot of support and guidance provided by my Line manager in regards to administrative tasks such as filling in time sheets. However in regards to the technical work, we were on our own for most of it. There would occasionally be someone more experienced who would come by and provide guidance but I feel this was not organized well and should have been an integral part of the placement.
On average I was not busy at all. There would be weeks where there was nothing to do and I would just sit at my desk and wait for someone to give me things to do. At the start of the placement I was kept busy with a project I had to do. This lasted a few months then afterwards there was nothing to do. Afterwards there were bits and pieces to do every couple weeks but nothing to keep us busy on a daily basis. I believe no one had planned out things for us to do for the entire year.
On the whole I was given very little responsibility. On the main project I worked on, I was just one of three others working on it and was not responsible for anything. There were occasions where I would be responsible for contacting someone or making sure something was done, but apart from that there was very little responsibility.
I did learn a lot during my placement, whether it be new skills, or what not to do in the future. I developed my programming skills independently which will help in my degree. Additionally I attended a traning course which covered a lot about one of the modules I will be able to do at university, so that will be useful. Furthermore I know a lot more about how large companies operate and this will influence my career choices in the future.
The Company
Our office mainly consisted of placement students and graduates so the atmosphere was very friendly and not dull. It was better than other offices where I would have been with much older colleagues who I probably would not have shared many interests with. The lack of windows in our office made the atmosphere quite depressing at times however.
The placement was organised very badly, there was a great initial New Starters which got you set up with your work laptop and initial training. After that I was placed on a project with other placement students but found it hard to understand the project as there was no formal introduction given to it or what Dstl does. Furthermore there wasn't enough work to do towards the project day-to-day as, in my opinion, there were too many people working on the project. After we completed the project, it was obvious there was nothing else planned for us to do so the following 6 months were spent hanging around and waiting for something to do.
I felt that the firm did not want to invest much into me. Initially there was a weekly training course organised, from this there were many opportunities to enrich our time at the firm by experiencing some of the exciting things that they did for customers. However every outing was denied due to "Health and Safety" concerns. Furthermore when the new financial year arrived and our team was allocated money for training and developing members, we (myself and other placement students) were not placed on any training programme.
Flexi Time
Subsidised/Company Gym
National Travel
Above 25 days holiday
Working from home
There is an opportunity to get a sponsorship with the company. This involves them paying you some money for your final year at university and then getting a guaranteed place at their graduate assessment centre, and probably a job after that. For Year-In-Industry students this sponsorship requires you to do a summer placement every summer at the organisation, in return you get money every year though. I was not offered a sponsorship.
The Culture
There was a group within the organisation which organised socials for new starters, many of whom were on placements or graduates.
I did not live in the area I worked in.
Decent.
Once in a while there would be events/activities organised outside of work.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Computer Science, Information Technology, Science
South West
September 2015