'The people I was surrounded by really helped me grow'

Why did you want to do a placement at the Met Office? 

I first found out about this opportunity from my mentor at university who had done this role the previous year. I was open to doing a placement in pretty much any aspect of marketing as I wanted to explore. However, some things that were important to me were a supportive environment and a company that was having a positive impact. I wanted a company that cared about its people and was also making a positive difference in a way. Based on my research of the Met Office and what I heard from my mentor, the Met Office fit this description. 

What did you do during you work experience placement? 

During my placement, I was part of the Marketing team under the PWS (Public Weather Services) division. Every day was somewhat different. For the first month, I mostly did induction training and had introductory meetings to find my bearings. After this period, I got a variety of tasks which allowed me to explore different aspects of marketing. I was involved with qualitative research, competitor analysis, putting together reports, using tools such as Similarweb and much more. 

During my placement year, I also had the opportunity to spend a month in the Communications team. This was also very insightful. I had the chance to work on different types of content and see the processes that go into putting out information on the various social channels. 

What was your favourite part of role at the Met Office? 

My favourite part of doing my placement at the Met Office was the people. The Met Office really is a “great place to work” and I think a lot of that can be attributed to the people. My team was very supportive and I felt valued. The people I was surrounded by really helped me grow, learn and get the most out of this placement and I am very grateful for this.  

Which Met Office value resonates most with you, and why? 

The “We’re better together” value resonates the most with me as I am an avid believer of the saying ‘teamwork makes the dreamwork’. I really saw this come to play at the Met Office. In my opinion, my team was quite a close knit team who appreciated the value in working together. Each person brought something different to the team, and it all contributed to making the team successful. During my placement, we did quite a few team building exercises which helped us understand each team member better and really appreciate what they bring to the team. Instances like this showed me that the Met Office values are truly put into practice. 

What skills have you been able to develop whilst working at the Met Office? 

I have been able to refine my time management skills as I had to prioritise tasks and balance my time well between the variety of tasks I was assigned by different members of the team. My communication skills also greatly improved; both verbally and written. I got the opportunity to chair meetings, present my findings and interact with a variety of people across the organisation. This helped me to refine my communication skills in a professional setting. In addition, I developed further skills in qualitative market research. At university, I learnt how to gather qualitative research but at the Met Office I got to do this in real time and work on real projects which was very interesting.  

Have you been given many development opportunities at the Met Office, and if so, what were they? 

I have been given a lot of development opportunities at the Met Office. My line manager always gave me the chance to try new things, ask questions and tell her if there was anything I was interested in taking part in. As mentioned earlier, I was given the opportunity to work in the Communications team for a month. In addition, the Met Office also offers many courses for employees which I had access to even as a placement student. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my placement, and it exceeded my expectations. 

This blog was published in July 2026.