A placement with Hampshire County Council

My placement experience with Hampshire City Council began on in early January 2021. I was just three months into my PhD, everything was new for me: I was researching my topic, meeting my colleagues, and planning my future years. Due to the pandemic, it was a bit limiting, but I was looking forward to the work ahead. My skill background is in quantitative research methods and data analysis, which made me a good fit for the Council: analysing surveys and data, in order to improve their services. When I was offered the position, I was hesitant to accept is, as I did not feel ready to put my PhD on pause this early. However, after considering all pros and cons, I decided to give it a go – it was a perfect fit for my skills, and I heard great things about this placement from other students, who were on this placement before me. I know now that I made the correct decision – this placement gave me more than I could ever expect.

First and foremost, the staff was just amazing. Everyone was incredibly nice and kind to me, even inviting me to online social catch-ups, which made me truly feel as a part of a team. I also appreciated the style of communication about the tasks. For every project, they clearly explained the details and proposed their expectations in terms of the results and the deadline, but they would always ask me for my assessment and take into consideration my assessment of the time I might need for the task or the level of skill I can offer to them. Thanks to this cooperation, I never felt under pressure or stressed about any demands. They knew how to use my skills for the tasks and I truly felt like I always had the opportunity to show them what I can do. Researchers usually do not get new set of data every week to analyse, so I was enjoying myself quite much, playing around with new data and finding useful information in it. But I had a lot of opportunities to come out of my comfort zone and try new things outside of statistical analysis, such as focus groups,  literature reviews or Excel programming.

However, the biggest surprise for me was the satisfaction of making a real impact on the community. I was not exactly sure about the nature of the work I would be doing when I started, and I was pleasantly surprised when I was involved into project with real-life consequences for people in Hampshire. The first (and most exhaustive) project involved analysing survey for countryside and parks in Hampshire, and my work provided information about usage of parks, activities, interests and preferences of visitors. These results will be used to improve the way parks operate to make it more effective, which is extremely rewarding. Similarly, I helped to develop a communication tool for the Council, which they can use daily to reach the right audience for important messages. This is extremely important for spreading COVID-19 information, as well as tackle misinformation. My literature review on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy helped council to be informed on the  most recent research and I hope it will be useful to direct their efforts to tackle this pandemic locally. These are just a few examples – every project was aiming to solve the current problems in our region or improving services for everyone. It makes me proud that I was a part of these projects and that my work had an impact in real time.

Now that the placement ended and I am back on my PhD program, I am very grateful for this opportunity. I have learned so much about working outside of academia, and I realise just how much my skills can be used for the industry. The satisfaction of using the skills for the Hampshire was a reward on its own. I left the placement better than before, and I would recommend it to everyone who is ready to gain experience, work with great people and trial run the world of employment!

Michaela Trescakova, PhD Student in Cognitive Psychology , University of Southampton

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