As part of my Environmental Science UG degree, I was fortunate to spend my year in industry at Cornwall Insight. My placement at Cornwall Insight started in August 2022, when I joined the Consumer Markets Team, as an analyst.
The first few days in my role can be described as a mixture of excitement, nerves, and an eagerness to learn. Beyond the basic administrative and general research and writing skills, the skillset of an analyst and knowledge of the energy sector are both areas which this role has been instrumental in allowing me to develop.
Within my first month at Cornwall Insight, I fully immersed myself in the company, understanding all the different product and service offerings the Company offers and the various workstreams of my fellow colleagues. After completing the introduction guide, I started on my first report the ‘media sweep’, a daily report that is common for new starters in the domestic pod to write and publish. This report brought me up to speed on the domestic energy market fairly quickly having done it for 2-3 months. Alongside writing this report, I enrolled in training offered by Cornwall Insight to better understand the energy sector to be able to support on different tasks and projects. I then started working on more products within the consumer markets team carrying my role as an analyst, from EV related products to non-domestic products. As I became more comfortable on the tasks I was working on, I was given the exciting opportunity to shadow different teams within the company from Net Zero and ESG. This was instrumental in allowing me to develop a well-rounded experience and knowledge of the energy sector beyond the Consumer Markets area. I developed numerous skills during my placement, including but not limited to time management, project management and interpersonal skills by being pro-active and volunteering to help my colleagues, and analytical skills working on reports and spreadsheets.
Overall, my placement at Cornwall Insight proved pivotal in my academic journey as it provided me with an opportunity for personal and professional growth. I look forward to taking and further developing these valuable skills and experiences back to university once I have finished my placement.
