I have now been in Asset Reliability for 4 weeks, shadowing one of the Process Engineers. As mentioned previously, this department is concerned with water treatment within Yorkshire. The team has a wealth of knowledge and I am learning about all aspects of the treatment, the variations between site equipment and how it operates, mechanically and chemically. To some degree I have also been getting hands on, for example, learning to take water samples, and clean and calibrate equipment. 

I am spending some time with the chemists that work in water quality and will be shadowing Plant Engineers working in the Raw Water team. This placement is giving me a great opportunity to work with many departments within water treatment. My learning is like a jigsaw, every piece contributing to that complete picture!

My personal development continues as well; yesterday I presented to the graduates (my year and the year above) and I will be further practising my presentation skills at a Manchester university careers event this week.

Hazel

I have just finished three mini 'shadowing' placements in Business Reporting, Business Finance and Human Resources; each placement lasting one week. This has given me a very brief overview on what the departments cover and how they interact with the business on a daily basis. The aspects of the various departments are too many to mention here but includes supporting the business through statistic production, compliance report data, budget and financial information, as well as, for HR, learning and development, recruitment and the myriad HR issues that occur!

It has been a fantastic chance to meet people within the business, and conversely for the teams to be aware of who we, as graduates, are.

This week I have started my new 3 month placement within asset reliability. This is a placement focused on drinking water and I am in a very beautiful location in the Yorkshire Dales (slightly dampened by the thick and freezing fog!) As my last placement was waste water based, it is giving me a great understanding of drinking water production and the different production methods involved. This first week will be spent shadowing one of the process engineers on site?

Hazel

I have just come to the end of my first placement in Treatment Asset Policy. In advance of a review meeting with my line manager I have been reflecting what has gone well and what could have gone better. Luckily, the list is longer in the case of the former! I have done a wide assortment of projects in this role such as data analysis, report production, understanding the workings of a new IT system and writing the operations manual for its use; all contributing to my knowledge of waste water treatment process. All in all, a very enjoyable three months!

This week I had Right to Read training. This is a project whereby Yorkshire Water staff can give up an hour of their working time every week to go into a local school to help children read. As well as this being very rewarding I am hoping it will give me transferable skills which can be applied within my job role; in particular, patience if someone does not understand something you are trying to explain.

So now it is a new year and a new start! Next week I will be starting the first of three one week placements in Human Resources, Health & Safety, and Business Reporting and Finance. I have a general appreciation of what these departments do, shadowing for one week will really allow me to understand how these departments operate within Yorkshire Water.

Hazel

My last few weeks have been taken up writing some business reports, the subject matter of which I won't bore you with. At times this has felt like a jigsaw, piecing together the bits without really knowing what the picture looks like; it has been a real learning curve though and it has allowed me to visit sites and meet new colleagues. I feel very fortunate to have been given the chance to be responsible for this data gathering. I think my experience of science report writing at university really fed into this task; what a relief not to have to do any involved statistical analysis on the results though!

It feels as though this placement is nearing completion now, particularly as thoughts turn towards Christmas parties. I have just had the pleasure in ticking a task of my to-do list and I look forward to doing the same with my other objectives. One thing about having ownership of these long term placement objectives is really having the responsibility for progressing them and, in some cases, being solely responsible for a project.

Hazel

In order to write this blog I have been reflecting on my last few weeks on the graduate scheme, it is hard to believe I only started 6 weeks ago!

Initially I was anxious that the expectations of being on the scheme would be incredibly high and I would be expected to project manage on my first day in post! In reality it was not quite like that, I have been given a set of objectives to complete before the end of my placement. These objectives are focused on data management; whilst this has been largely desk based, I have had opportunities to go out on site visits to waste water treatment works and really build on my site process knowledge.

Working at previous companies I have been used to reporting quite closely with my manager and requesting work when a task is complete, at Yorkshire Water it seems you are left to your own devices and are expected to time manage your workload. The support of my line manager is always there though and we have regular catch-ups to ensure I have not missed the point!

In the last week I completed assertiveness training, something that I never thought I lacked! It incorporated elements of communication and really made me analyse how people can perceive you by even the smallest of actions.

Since the last blog, I have signed up to being the Water Aid representative and have been thinking about fundraising opportunities. Not only is it a charity I feel passionate about, I consider this to be a great chance to improve my project management skills and also have fun too! As part of this, I worked a fundraiser dinner for Water Aid last week, the theme was Alice in Wonderland and I was dressed as a card guard! It was great fun even if I did look like a fool. Needless to say pictures will not be appearing on this blog!