Pros
+ Privileged position to speak to many people/roles + High expectations can often work in your favour + 2x postgraduate qualifications and study support + Ability to shape placements to your preferences / interest areas + Ability to build up a list of useful skills and experiences, and push managers to offer these opportunities where possible + Not much stress
Cons
- The graduate scheme organisation is sometimes poor - Biggest con is that placements vary a lot (too much). Some might be hosted by grad scheme alumni and offer lots of support, others might be a manager who doesn't understand the scheme and is looking for a "free resource" or thinks it's just a technical apprenticeship(!) - The graduate scheme has several specialisms (Analysis, Policy, HR, Finance, Informatics) as well as the general management stream. For the former streams, there are sometimes difficulties with the scheme education and the placements: e.g. the scheme education might assume you're in a hospital and you'll be required to do assignments talking about patient experience, team management - but if you're "back office" doing data analysis or HR policy this is difficult. - Some placement managers can be very hands-off. This can mean the placement gets boring, you're not learning, and you have to constantly push for more work and opportunities (advice to grad scheme office: try to weed these placement managers out!).