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My placement was rotational so I did 3 roles and worked in various teams and I enjoyed some roles more than others. I think the highlights of being a placement Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ at E.ON is that if there is something you want to learn more about or get involved in, your managers are really willing to give you the time to do this. I spent time shadowing graduates and did a lot of things that were completely unrelated to my day-to-day job like volunteering at Careers fairs and visiting a Wind farm to learn more about how they operate.

I supported a lot of different people on project and day-to-day work and they always valued my help. Some of my colleagues gave me some really lovely feedback and I was quickly made to feel welcome in the various teams I worked with. People are very approachable at E.ON and are willing to speak to you about their roles and experiences. The CEO came along to an Undergraduate community day we organised and was incredibly down to earth and gave a really interesting overview of his career. This made me feel valued as an undergraduate that he was willing to give up his time to attend the day.

I set objectives at the start of my placement and had monthly 1-2-1 meetings where I was given feedback on my progress, which helped me to continuously improve. I also had 2 amazing mentors who really supported me in determining my career goals and getting the most out of my placement. Whenever I worked with different people, I would ask them for feedback and most people were more than willing to give me this. Personal development is part of the company culture.

This varied from day-to-day. Some days I had a tight deadline to deliver to and would be very busy and other days I had to ask for more work to take on as I didn’t have enough to fill the working week. I never had to take work home or stay late and I was given time to do my university work so I don’t think this was necessarily a bad thing but earlier on in the placement I would have appreciated more meaningful work to do.

I thought I would be managing a project initially when I accepted the role and I was not given this opportunity, which disappointed me a bit. However, I was involved in various projects and took on a number of tasks. I assessed my colleagues calls for my manager and trained 12 new starters. These tasks were within the management ‘remit’ so you could argue that I had a fair amount of responsibility towards the end of my placement.

I have developed my presentation skills which I think will be invaluable in my final year in university and beyond. One of the key things I developed was my self-confidence and assertiveness, which again I really think will help me when I develop my career. I feel like I am a lot more ‘employable’ having done a year of work experience and I have really enhanced my CV.

I was based in a contact centre for the majority of my placement. All of my colleagues were very friendly and easy to get along with. The department was heavily target driven and it could be quite loud as all of my colleagues were working on the phones. I also worked in an office environment, which was quieter but colleagues still had a laugh together even though they were working hard.

It was the first year they had run the Customer Operations scheme and none of the managers had worked with undergraduate Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵs before. The scheme was not very well organised but I think this will improve in the future. I gave feedback on the lack of organisation and it did get a bit better towards the end of the placement.

My induction included a 4-week training programme which was the standard training programme for new employees and equipped me to do my role. This involved classroom training, shadowing and e-learning. I was also given some coaching for my customer-facing work. You are encouraged to go on 2 development courses whilst working as a placement Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ. I completed an Emotional Intelligence course and an Influencing and Persuading skills course where I picked up new skills.

You have the option to fast-track for a graduate role. This means (if your line manager recommends you) that you can go straight to an assessment centre. If you applied externally you would have to complete an online application, online tests and a telephone interview so you get to skip all of these stages which is really good. Another bonus is that you can apply for any of the schemes (as long as you have the appropriate degree). I did my placement in Customer Operations and applied for the Finance graduate scheme. The assessment centre is not easy but I was successful and it’s a real relief returning to university with an offer.

There were 2 other placement Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵs at my office and we often had lunch together and travelled to events together. We also had a wider undergraduate community and a few undergraduate days were hosted throughout the year.

I can't comment on this. I worked in Nottingham but I lived in Leicestershire and commuted to work.

I have been out in Nottingham before and there is a real range of nightlife. I think the majority of people would find somewhere they liked.

Colleagues often went for drinks after work but as I was living at home and commuted quite far to work I didn't really get involved in this.