Introduction to my placement and what I did:

I was fortunate enough to secure a placement at Netcompany where I worked as an IT consultant. I worked within the Operations department and within Testing. There I was able to not only enhance my technical skills but I had the opportunity to partake in various networking opportunities e.g. the women of silicone roundabout event where I got to speak to women and girls from all works of life and convince them to pursue a career within IT and STEM. This was super inspiring for me as it really allowed me to see firsthand the impact I was making on the next generation of women.

Making the most out of networking opportunities

Whilst on placement, I was advised by my mentor to really take advantage/get involved in social events as the majority of the time, when working in the industry, you often attend events where you can mingle with colleagues and have a healthy work-life balance. I had the privilege of helping organise one of Netcompany’s first Ramadan events for both the London and Leeds offices. This further enhanced my leadership and teambuilding skills and confidence.

Moreover, I had the privilege to part-take in Ahead partnership SmartCities events representing Netcompany where I got to go to a primary school in Tower Hamlets where I got to coach and encourage a group of students to develop a technologically-driven city powered by AI/tech. It enabled me to not only have a first-hand view of child psychological development but also fuel the interest in technology within young and impressionable minds and hopefully inspire some of them to pursue a career in computer science.

Why should You even do a placement?

One of the main reasons why I even chose to do a placement was because I was not sure of what i wanted to do after I graduated. My placement year made me realise that I wanted to be a technical consultant. And plus it is fun!

Day in the Life of a Placement Student:

• Book a desk a night prior before I come in (we had a booking system)
• Make my way into the office (around 8:30am)
• Notify the team that I am in the office
• Have my morning stand-up call (normally around 9:40am) where I would explain my tasks for the day
• Study for any pending certifications
• Prepare any test plans with my team
• Have weekly calls with my line manager (mentor)
• Have weekly team meetings (normally took place on Fridays in the operations department and Mondays when I was in APD)
• Work on placement report submissions for the university (there were 3)
• Have lunch (normally around 1PM-1:30
• Fill in my hours for the day on timereg
• Have monthly Netcompany AfterDark meetings
• Hometime (usually between 4:30-5PM)

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Big thanks to Vareesha Khan, one of our placement champions and BSc Computer Science students, for writing this blog!

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