Winner of the Low Carbon Undergraduate of the Year award, Declan Bryans gives his advice on how to tackle a work placement.
Not even a year has passed since I entered the
Undergraduate of the Year 2012 but reflecting back on it puts into perspective
just how much someone can achieve in such a short period of time. Back then my summer was set to be another
uneventful period of time, biggest plan on the cards was to go out with friends
and relax while waiting for the next year of university to begin.
It turns out my summer was very different than originally
planned. 13th of April, my 21st birthday, was the day
that my summer plans had changed. It was on that day I was announced as the
winner of my award category, low carbon technologies. All of a sudden I was talking about working
for EDF Energy and told I would be going down to the Olympic games for a VIP
day. Both were things I never even dreamt of achieving.
In this post I hope to give some sound advice for those
who are going on placement for the first time and need to move away from home.
The first challenges I came across was accommodation and finances. As soon as
you have your start date, I would advise that you start looking for affordable
accommodation. It is likely that the company you will be working for will know
of some good places so it’s worthwhile asking. Once this is sourced, it is a
good idea to get to know the person you are renting a room or flat from. This
serves to fulfil two purposes: firstly it settles their mind as to what type of
person you are, a lot of property owners out there have made massive
investments and it is always a relief to know that the stranger living in their
house won’t turn out to be a psychopath and destroy their hard work. Secondly,
it also means they might be able to help you out a bit. This could range from
them helping you with transport arrangements to and from work, or allowing a
payment to come late: it removes a lot of stress from you.
Once that is all settled, the next big thing is the work
placement itself. Chances are you’ll be there for 8 to 12 weeks; a lot of
companies may see this like an extended interview and could lead to a future
career with them. This doesn’t mean, however, that they expect you to know
everything about their field; they know you are there to learn so you should adopt
a questioning attitude. It will show that you are eager to learn and willing to
improve. From this, it could leave a positive impression on your employer and, down
the road, it may lead to a job offer.
My time with EDF has allowed me to develop exponentially,
on my CV and personally. I have learnt so much from them and have managed to
become more open minded to all the different sectors and aspects required in
the energy sector. Unfortunately, I can’t talk on much of what I did during my
placement.
The second part of my award prize was a VIP day at the
London Olympics and it did not fail to impress. I watched the Olympics on the
TV almost every day but that does not compare to the experience of actually
being there. The sheer size and atmosphere was
outstanding and I am glad that I can say I was a part of it all. The day
started early with a tour of the London Eye before a very fancy lunch. However,
the main event came in the afternoon when we attended the Basketball matches.
Even although Great Britain weren’t doing particularly well in this front we
managed to time it well enough to see them get their only victory against China
and an excellent display of skill from Nigeria and France.
To me this has been a massively successful summer that
has potentially shaped my future career. This journey has only begun for me and
I plan to build upon these successes and push my boundaries even further. I
will finish my blog with one final piece of advice, none of this would have
happened had I not took the 5 minutes to fill in the application form back in
December. It is the smallest of actions that can make the biggest of changes
and from the quote above, it starts with one small step to make a legendary
journey. Take that step and remember that limits and boundaries are only there
to be broken.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave your comments and feedback here: