Hey again everyone, can you believe the last time you heard from me was a month ago? It feels like yesterday that I was sitting down to write about how nervous I was about starting my placement. Now, after a month, I can’t imagine doing anything else!
To recap; I’m Katy, an Accounting, Business Finance and Management (but we all call it ABFM) student. I’m currently doing an industrial placement with a company called Audit Partnership Ltd.
It’s very strange not having a lie in most days (it is summer after all). But the early mornings are made slightly more bearable because I really love what I’m doing! My best friends are also on placement this year which means we can support each other really well. Best of all – there’s no-one rubbing it in that they’re still in bed at 10am when the rest of us have been at work nearly 2 hours!
My first day/week:
I was very nervous going in on my first day because I didn’t really know what to expect. I live with six other people who all work at the same company and two of them had started the week before. They gave us an idea of what it was like and what we were going to be doing. Everyone reacts differently to new situations, so I took on their advice but tried not to get too caught up in it – I wanted to focus on my own experience. I actually started with three people from my house at uni and that definitely helped me settle in. It made the icebreaker activities a little bit less awkward!
There were ten of us in total in my training group. We all moved into the same overall team (aside from one lass who is the new HR placement). This has been amazing as we’re able to build on the friendships we made in that first week (we all still have lunch together every day!), but we’re getting to know new people as well.
How am I finding my placement?
I’m really enjoying my placement experience. I’m starting to get more work through, now that one of last year’s placement students has left. I originally applied to be a Profit Recovery Auditor, but during training I was offered the opportunity to become a Recoveries Analyst (you spend a lot of time talking to people in this job), and I made the decision to swap roles.
This was the absolute BEST decision I could have made. My team is very social and I don’t worry about asking questions as everyone is so helpful. I think it’s great that I sit next to my team leader and opposite my manager. It makes them so much more accessible and asking for their feedback on my work couldn’t be simpler!
I’m not going to lie though, the placement is intense. But once I found my routine at work, everything became so much easier. I’ve found that it’s all a matter of figuring out what works for you, as what works for me doesn’t work for my housemates and vice versa. It’s important to trust your instincts and not just do what everyone else finds best.
I’m looking forward to:
1. Getting to know my team better. They’re the people I’ll be spending the next year with so I’m looking forward to getting to know them outside work.
2. Getting some work that’s of a higher difficulty. This is something I need to work towards by proving I can handle the work I have at the moment. I’m excited for when I reach the point during my placement that I get some work to do that involves going into the really nitty gritty little details!
3. Having more fun. Believe me, we work very hard but we also appreciate the times when we just need to relax and take a break. We’re always laughing (I’ve nearly cried with laughing a few times already!) as it’s the best way to relieve any stress people might be feeling.
Favourite thing about my placement experience so far is…
THE PEOPLE
Hands down, the people are the best thing about placement. Everyone, regardless of what team they’re in, is so friendly, and they are making my placement experience much more fun.
- Read Katy’s previous blog post: Bring it On: embarking on an industrial placement
- Read Katy’s next blog post: Placement year: half way through
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