Placement - Bristol and West Building Society

Nature of the business:

It is a part of the Bank Of Ireland. They department I was in surveys houses for a valuation or re-mortgage.

Career paths available within this business:

There are many career paths, they have over 12,000 employees worldwide. You could do anything from working in the post team to being a director helping run the business.

General information on what I did during the placement:

I shadowed a housing surveyor for most of the time looking at houses and helping to make estimated valuations for houses and seeing if they were suitable for a mortgage with Bristol and West.

Daily Diary:

	Monday: I shadowed my surveyor for the day. We valued a two bedroom terrace in Bradley Stoke which had a dodgy loft conversion.
	Tuesday:
	Wednesday:
	Thursday: On Thursday I was on the second floor of the building with the mortgage team. I went through the entire process of mortgage application from the arrival with the post team to the completion s team who inform the applicant whether or not their mortgage had been expected.
	Friday:

Location and Travel arrangements:

Seeing as my father is the Chief Valuer for Bristol and West i went to work with him everyday.

Particular skills or abilities needed:

There were no particular skills apart from being literate and able to use a computer.

Health and Safety requirements:

There were no real health and safety requirements, apart from being careful to avoid R.S.I.

Advice for anyone considering this as a work-experience placement:

It is a good place to go but you should be prepared for a lot of computer work and days lasting 9am to 5pm. it is well worth going to if you are willing to work.

Advice for anyone considering this as a career:

There are some worthwhile career opportunities in Bristol and West but a lot of it is not very well paid temporary work.