Erin Brassil

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I usually get into work at around 9:00am, and head home at about 5:00pm, but sometimes it's 8:00am – 4:00pm. It's quite flexible: if there's something that needs doing, I'll stay and help. But it's give and take: if you're willing to give a little of your time, the company tries to make sure you get it back.

Our offices in Exeter are big, open plan affairs. It's really quite huge, and actually a little scary at first. There's so much going on. There are sales teams here. Round the corner are our billing teams. Downstairs, there's credit control. It's easy to feel a little lost in all these people at first. But because people work in such close-knit teams, once you start working here, you soon feel comfortable.

My placements are in Major Business, which looks after some of our biggest customers – companies like Next and Tesco, who often have hundreds of sites and use lots of energy. Essentially, Major Business is a mini-business in itself, working with their customers to understand what they need and then find a way to serve them better. It's actually a lot more complicated than you think.

I think the biggest challenge for me was getting used to the idea of coming to work for the next forty years! It was great, however, to find a company that could give me a great career close to where I was already living.

For my second placement, I was part of a team who take calls directly from the customer. My role was all about reporting and analysis – difficult when you've got an arts degree! However, everyone took the time to take me through how to do it, and get me up to speed on how to use a spreadsheet.

There's all sorts of support and training available. Nothing's compulsory, but it's there if you need it. Plus, there's always someone to talk to: I still phone my old manager up occasionally!

This is the canteen, and despite what you might think, it's actually really good. I was certainly pleasantly surprised: there's even a salad bar and section where they serve homemade soups.

My favourite placement so far has been in Finance, quite simply because I got to see how one project can affect pretty much everyone in the company. I worked closely with all sorts of people – from Marketing to Sales to Customer Services. Doing placements outside my usual area of the business has given me a really valuable overview of what we do.

Originally, I thought my stint in Finance would be boring. It was anything but. I got to see what's involved in incentives, audits and calculating profit. It opened my eyes to a completely new area of the business, and I learnt so much from all the people there.

There are lots of spaces to relax or get away from your computer screen down here in Exeter. I like to sit in the gardens and read up on my projects.

I often like to meet up with some of the other graduates in the coffee bar here. It serves Starbucks®, but I'm more of a tea drinker myself. In fact, I drink more than anyone else I know.

There are also a fair few facilities to take advantage of, like a gym and a bus that takes you to work from the city.

I'm involved in quite a few different work groups and sit in on a lot of meetings. I previously worked in the gas industry, so I'll contribute to forums on that. It's great to meet people just as interested in it as I am.

Tomorrow, I'm packing my things up to move to London for a stint in Marketing. There's lots of cross-area working, so I already know some of the people I'll be working with there. Marketing was something I was really interested in, and EDF Energy were good enough to help me find a placement there. I can't wait to see what the future holds there.