Today marks our Student Planner Rosie’s last day with us at EP before she goes away for a well-deserved break over summer – don’t worry, she’s coming back to work with us full-time in September! We asked her to share how she has found the past couple of years working at EP and what she is most looking forward to when she returns.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working at EP for the past two years, starting in 2022 as a year-long placement as part of my MPlan degree at Newcastle University before continuing to work part-time here as I completed the final year of my course. The placement helped show me how planning works outside of the University context, and I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to work on such a variety of projects since starting. Working part-time as I completed the final year of my degree was incredibly helpful, as I have been able to sit down with the rest of the EP team to ask questions related to my degree coursework, whilst also being able to bring real-world examples back to my degree to support my work. This has been one of the main benefits of working in a small planning consultancy – there have been so many different opportunities to get involved in projects, right from the initial engagement through to submission and post-submission.
One of my highlights has definitely been having the opportunity to work on a large-scale development that includes EV charging. I originally worked on this project in a supportive role, but in the past few months I have been able to take more ownership of the project and take a leading role. The focus on EV charging has made it clear that working on projects related to the renewable energy sector is something that I am passionate about and I am looking forward to developing much more in my career.
Before I started my placement at EP, I was honestly unsure about whether I wanted to be a planner. However, after the past couple of years I can’t see myself doing anything else. The opportunities that I have had at EP have been great to show me the variety of work that I can do within the sector and I am looking forward to continuing full-time in September to work towards achieving my RTPI Chartership in the coming years!”