Human Resources Review

The placement year has been extremely enjoyable, offering me the opportunity to put ideas and theories I'd learnt in academic studies into practical application. I had the opportunity to go to conferences, visit our sites across the country and go to our head office in Munich. There was a good amount of flexibility at KB - with a requirement of 37 hours a week but with core hours between 9 and 3:30 Monday to Thursday and 9-12:30 on Friday. This meant people could come in early and go home early, and also allowed a slightly extended weekend.

Being involved in Human Resources in particular allowed me the opportunity to interact with a wide range of colleagues through different initiatives. The atmosphere throughout Knorr-Bremse showed it was a 'friendly' company, with Christmas gifts given and meals out for retiring staff. I also got involved in 5 a side football at KB, which enabled me to meet a wide range of people I wouldn't normally have day-to-day contact with and was good fun. As well as this social events were organised by the placement students, such as meals out, go-karting and bowling.

I was given a large amount of support by my manager, with monthly progress meetings and I always received helpful guidance if I didn't know how to do something. Staff are friendly and although you feel fully integrated into the department, there is also the understanding that as a placement student you have a lot of learning to do and the support framework is in place to help you with this.

I was busy most of the time at KB as the nature of the job meant that there were multiple deadlines for different inititiatives. Working here has helped me manage my time and plan what steps I'm going to take to get the work done.

I was given a large amount of responsibility on the placement, being required to deliver projects from start to finish, and interact with different department managers on a day-to-day level,

I improved a lot of soft skills on the job such as how to interact with people, and how to push to get some things done. I also learnt a lot of technical skills useful for the rest of my career, such as knowing how to use SAP, payroll management and recruitment methods. In particular, the placement instilled in me a better work ethic and time management skills which will be crucial both when it comes to writing my dissertation and in my future career.

The general atmosphere in the office was positive- it's an open plan office so there is lots of interaction between the different departments.

The placement scheme is well-established and has been running for a number of years. Before the placement started, a meal was organised between the new placement students, the current placement students and the current graduates which was a good opportunity to socialise. In our first few weeks of placement, we were taken to a hotel for a 2-day course on what the company expected from us on our placement and also what are expectations were. Here we were given folders containing materials that would be needed on our placement such as time management books. We had monthly catch ups with the graduates in the bistro, where we could air any concerns or issues that needed resolving.

I was given the opportunity to attend a number of conferences and I also received training in interviewing.

There is an investment in placement students because there is a requirement for new people within the organisation, particularly as it's in the engineering industry in which there is excess demand for graduates. I haven't yet heard if I've received a graduate job but there is a demand for new staff as the company has been expanding recently.

Students would regularly eat together, play 5 a side football on a weekly basis and we organised nights out, meals and activites such as go-karting and bowling.

The cost of living depends largely on where you are based. Bath tends to be more expensive to rent due to the large student population but rental prices closer to work are comparatively cheap to most student cities, being somewhere in the region of £300-400.

The nightlife in the immediate area around work is limited, but in Bath (15 miles away) there are a large number of bars and clubs. A bit further afield is Bristol which has lots of good places to go, and a number of students are based here and commute in to work.

There was the opportunity to get involved in 5 a side football for KB staff members. Outside of work, I regularly played squash in the local sports centre.