Danielle Colley

The main reason why I did a placement year was to gain experience in a professional environment while breaking up my studies.

Atkins was a company I had heard of and come across before applying for placements from career fairs and prior research. I loved the exciting projects they had worked on being close to home such as London 2012 and the forward-thinking innovation they applied to their work. Their values also aligned with my own which was a bonus especially sustainability.

• Make sure to visit the careers network before even applying=, do this as soon as possible
• Apply the earlier the better
• Check out websites such as ratemyplacement and glassdoor
• Don’t be disheartened by failed applications just keep going and the right one for you will come eventually

At first, I had a few small admin tasks like setting up important meetings with stakeholders and taking meeting minutes. After a couple of weeks, I was put in a few projects where I had to communicate with partners, assist the project manager with planning and contribute in meetings rather than just taking notes.

I had heard stories of placement students not getting much work and being burdened with tedious admin tasks, writing meeting minutes for their whole time there and having no social life. Instead, it was not like that at all, I actively contributed and had impacts on projects, I attended socials and made loads of friends, I got to travel around the country on client meetings and got an idea of what I want to do in the future.

My biggest achievement was being offered a graduate role when I finish with university. To know that the team valued my work and efforts enough to want to hire me for a permanent role gives me the confidence and ambition to work even harder when I go back.

My biggest challenge was getting used to being in a professional environment completely out of my comfort zone. Being in this kind of environment at first was a culture shock but I feel has prepared me for the future in my professional career.

The main project I worked on was the TOC Ability project which trialled a journey planning tool to assist disabled rail passengers travelling on the rail network. I worked within a consortium of 7 companies and university bodies (including Loughborough University) where we had to develop the API tool, plan the trial and execute it. After this, we then constructed a report on the results of the trial.

The trial was successful, which even led to the project winning the Inclusive Mobility award from the ITS UK (Intelligent Transport Systems) award ceremony this year.

My communication skills have definitely improved as well as my organisation skills.

It will help with planning my time efficiently and prioritising tasks. Also, I was lucky enough to be offered a grad role at the end of my placement year which has reduced the pressure of applying for jobs during my final year.

Being the first placement student the team had hired, for both me and the senior members of the team it was a new experience.  I think it was a good way to train a prospective employee for a year at a low cost to see whether they are right for the team, and if at the end of it they decide to offer the student a job, they already have one years’ experience.

I also provided some feedback for the next round of placement students they would hire, in order to improve the programme.