What do Graduate Management Trainees actually do on placement?

Posted by: Ben Williams - Posted on:

I helped out at some of the interview days in January; answering candidates questions about the scheme. The thing candidates most wanted to know, aside from what to expect in the interview, was what sort of work is actually available to trainees whilst on placement.

The problem with this question is that it’s really hard to answer – each placement is totally different and no two trainees get the same experience. I explained this and listed off some of the departments I knew other trainees were working in. But I realise now it probably would have been more useful if I’d described the sorts of things I’ve been up to on placement… 

Since the New Year I’ve been organising and co-ordinating the testing of the Integrated Doncaster Care Record (IDCR), a brand new health and social care record to be piloted across 4 different organisations in Doncaster.

Before testing could begin I had to gain an understanding of the activities which would need to be completed and their timeframes. This involved a series of conversations with the external provider who built the platform the IDCR uses and an external consultancy company managing the project about their requirements and expectations. 

The next step was to create a testing plan which detailed who would undertake which activities and when. I took the first draft of my plan to a meeting with the project and testing leads from each of the 4 Doncaster organisations who provided feedback. After incorporating a couple of rounds of feedback I had a final version of the plan which each organisation signed-off.

In the lead up to testing I created testing scripts which are basically a step by step guide of how to complete tests on each bit of functionality. I also supported the other organisations in completing their actions through a weekly conference call and other impromptu conversations. Provider actions included things like ensuring resources were allocated on appropriate dates and times and making sure test patients existed in the system for testing.

Finally once testing began I was on hand to support users in completing their test scripts and updated a matrix which I’d created to show who’d completed which test and when. Whenever a test did fail I raised technical issue reports to the external provider and worked with them to resolve and retest issues. 

This is a simplified account of just one of the projects I’m working on. Hopefully it helps you to imagine what a day in my life might look like – but if you’ve got any questions or would like to know more then please drop me an email ([email protected]).

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