Material Planning & Logistics Undergraduate Trainee Review

I very much enjoyed the work during my internship. I was given a challenging project to work on and was given freedom to approach it however I saw fit. The work had a clear impact upon the day to day running of the business and involved working with lots of different departments.

From the very start I felt supported and appreciated by my colleagues. Everyone I worked with valued my input and had lots of time to listen to my thoughts and contributions. The team I was working in was made up of people from a diverse range of backgrounds and everyone's experiences were valued and listened to.

My manager and supervisor were always available to provide support and feedback and were very approachable. I also had regular team meetings where the team I was in would give status updates and this was often used as an opportunity to receive guidance on what the projects should focus on.

For most of the placement I had a very manageable work-load that kept me engaged but not overworked. I had plenty of opportunity to explore other parts of the company outside of my regular work which gave me a really good insight into how the whole company operates and how my work fits in to the bigger picture.

I was given a project I was directly responsible for. It was my responsibility to respond to requests from colleagues and ensure that their needs were met at project delivery. The work was building a new project management tool that since the project completion has been used regularly by multiple departments within the company.

Whilst the work was not directly related to my degree I developed many skills that I continue to use as part of my university life. The improvements I made in my communication and collaboration skills are invaluable at university and in day-to-day life. I also greatly improved my multi-tasking/project management skills.

My office was very friendly with everybody keen to help each other wherever possible. I was made to feel very welcome from the very start with people willing to answer any questions I had and ensure I was happy with my work. Even those people working in different teams were keen to meet me and make sure I was enjoying my time at JLR.

In general everything was set up for me upon arrival however some systems took a few weeks before I had access which was inconvenient and prevented me from doing some of my work. Also during the factory shutdown very little had been set up so my manager had to find an alternative department to work in whilst he was away.

The full range of online training resources used by full time staff was available to me as an intern allowing me to identify area in which I felt I needed or would benefit from training. This allowed me to customise my personal development to suit the work that I was doing and made sure it was relevant and interesting.

Following a performance review from my manager at the end of my placement I had a face to face feedback session and a written report. The final aspect of this review was to be offered a place upon the JLR graduate scheme without need for further interview or application. I look forward to returning to JLR in the near future.

I lived with a group of interns found through the internship facebook page and lived very close to another group of interns. We would spend most evenings and weekends together as well as having lunch together at work. There was a great sense of comradery amongst the interns and we were always supportive of each other.

Very cheap and easy to find. Local transport was very cheap allowing for easy access to the centre of Birmingham which was great for socialising.