What’s available?
There are two 12-month industrial placements on offer for sandwich-year students. IT Projects & Transformation is aimed at management or business management students and offers a more commercial focus on projects. IT Operations on the other hand, is focused on more technical aspects, and would suit a more technically-minded student.
What will you do?
IT Projects & Transformation
The nature, size and pace of our business means that at any given time, vast projects are taking place that will transform the way we work. This placement gives you a chance to get involved in them. You’ll start on a particular project, supporting a Project Management Office team that helps to mobilise our projects and track deliverables. You will get involved in reporting project metrics, supporting project managers or taking on a business analysis role – the range of projects and scope of work is potentially very wide ranging. So, if you show your interest and aptitude your remit will expand, as well as your opportunity to learn more about our business and the project lifecycle.
What will you be involved in? It could be anything. Right now, we (and our current industrial placement student) are tackling a major transformation of our customer service business – looking at systems to improve how we operate, ways to upskill our staff and how to be more efficient. Soon, we’ll be tackling smart metering – a huge and ambitious project that will revolutionise the way people measure their energy use. Needless to say, it’ll require some ingenious technology at EDF Energy to make it happen. But then, that’s exactly the kind of thing you’ll help us explore.
IT Operations
If you have a technical degree, you will join our IT Operations team. This will involve three main assignments, which are designed to build your understanding with each step. For your first, you’ll be based in the Infrastructure Department, where you’ll look at how we apply our technology, how effective it is, and how we use it to meet business needs. Next, you’ll move into Service Management, which is where we identify problems around the business through our help desks and call centre. Here you’ll work with problem management teams and gain an insight into how IT is used around the business, and how we tackle any issues that arise. Finally, you’ll explore Systems Design & Technical Architecture: this is where we look at the bigger picture, and how we invest in the solutions we need. At the end of the placement, you’ll have developed a broad view of our IT landscape, as well as gained in-depth insights into specific functions, ongoing service management, maintenance and continuous improvement.
Why EDF Energy?
We’re at a fascinating point in our development. With the integration of British Energy comes the potential to change how we operate quite radically. Technology is, and has to be, at the heart of that change. In other words, these placements will give you an opportunity to see first-hand the challenges and opportunities a business of our scale experiences. They will also give you a head start towards a career in a stable, growing and important industry – one that will continue to be high in profile for years to come.
Is it for me?
What we’re looking for here are people who have really thought through how a placement will benefit their career: you need to be proactive, interested and willing to accept any challenge. You’ll also need to be flexible about where you work, and what you get involved in.
