西瓜视频

My year in industry placement in the Energy Policy Development team at E.ON was an amazing experience. Not only did this placement expose me to the heart of the energy industry, but it was an opportunity to explore how an international energy company like E.ON operates. I really appreciated the sense of responsibility I was given during my year here, as well as the numerous opportunities to engage with external stakeholders in workshops around the UK, as well as visiting a variety of E.ON's generation sites.

I was very fortunate to work in such as pleasant and caring team; it made this year in industry invaluable, and was one of the key reasons why this placement was so enjoyable. Whether it was working in team meetings, working on projects together or even needing support with any issues (work and non-work related), I felt that I had built some really valuable relationships with my team members.

My line manager was extremely supportive during my year in industry, particularly at the beginning of my placement; working in the Energy Policy Development team requires in-depth knowledge of the energy industry, and my manager made sure I had enough time to settle in the team before giving me some of the bigger tasks I had this year.

There was never a consistent workload during my placement year; a lot of the work in Energy Policy Development is dependent on external stakeholders (such as governmental organisations such as the Department of Energy and Climate Change [DECC]), particularly when it came to responding to consultations. If there were many consultations published in a given month, then my days were busy; my workload significantly varied depending on any energy policy announcements or changes in the UK.

I was impressed by the level of responsibility I was given during my placement year; after my first couple of months at E.ON, I was asked to lead on writing a response to a largely anticipated consultation by DECC. There were many different parts of the business that wanted to feed in to the response, which gave me a real sense of responsibility when there were a lot of people relying on me to complete this piece of work.

I definitely feel my placement year was an opportunity to develop my organisational and communication skills, particularly as these were key skill areas that were required in the Energy Policy Development team. I feel that I would greatly benefit from these strengthened skills during my last year of university, as I already feel more organised and motivated when it comes to working individually and within a team.

There was a great working environment in the E.ON office; all the floors were open-plan, which gave the general atmosphere a more open and relaxed feel. I definitely feel that this improved my placement experience, as I strongly believe that a more relaxed work environment is always a more productive one, particularly as it is generally less stressful.

Overall, the work placement was well organised, as I felt that my role in the Energy Policy Development team was properly established, instead of being given small or insignificant tasks. I feel like the placement was quite a formal one, and that I could always get in touch with my line manager or team members for support, as well as anyone from the HR team at E.ON.

I was given many opportunities to represent E.ON at external stakeholder meetings, which was an invaluable experience in terms of developing to public speaking and presentation skills. Furthermore, E.ON funded for the undergraduate community (myself included) at E.ON to go to any training forums that we were interested in, which gave us a much greater choice in terms of what development sessions we were interested taking part in.

Future employment prospects with E.ON are certainly very attractive; there are numerous graduate schemes with E.ON which are perfect for transitioning any skills you have developed during your year in industry to new work environments within E.ON, once you have completed your degree. The structure of these graduate schemes are very appealing, particularly as they generally consist of four six-month placements with different teams, ensuring that you gain exposure to multiple parts of the company.

There is a very friendly and active undergraduate community within E.ON UK; although the ones I was most familiar with were based at my office, there were many community days (organised by the undergraduate community) where we would all meet up at one of the main E.ON offices in the UK, where we would have presentations from different areas of the business as well as participate in team-building activities.

I had to move into an apartment from where I was studying at University, in order to commute to the office in which my year in industry is based. That said, the costs of living in Coventry aren't very high compared to other areas of the UK, which was good.

Unfortunately, the nightlife in Coventry was not amazing.

There were some opportunities to get involved in, although I personally did not take part in many.