HR Undergraduate - Shared Services Team Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time working at VWFS. I had the chance to meet many different people from different areas of the business and I was given many opportunities to develop my skills and apply the theories that I had previously learnt during my time at university.

I felt extremely valued during my placement year at VWFS, I was given great responsibility within my role and I was always recognised for all of the hard work that I have put into any given task.

The management and support that I have been provided during my placement year has been outstanding. Regular one to ones with my line manager meant that I was constantly receiveing feedback and developing myself as an individual. Whenever I have wanted to push myself into new things or tasks within different business area's, my line manager has fully supported me to do this as she recognised how important this was for my personal development.

On a day to day basis I have been very busy, which is great as I would much rather be busy than be sat round with nothing to do! If ever I felt like my workload was too much, I have always been able to just notify a member of my team, who have always been more than happy to help share the workload.

During my placement year I was given lots of responsibility. Working within HR has meant that a lot of the things I have done, have been extremely confidential.

My placement year has enabled me to put many of the theories that I have learnt into practice. In terms of perosnal development, I have encompassed many new skills that I will be able to take back to university with me to help me with my final year of studies. However, more than anything I would say that my placement at VWFS has confirmed for me that Human Resources is something that I want to continue working within.

The general atmosphere in the office was great, and there has always been a nice balance between wanting to get the work done to a high standard and having a laugh and making the days enjoyable.

Overall, I think in gerneral the placement scheme is set up really well. One thing that particularly stood out for me was the Familiarisation Event that was held prior to us joining VWFS, this gave me the chance to meet up with the other 13 undergraduates, my line manager and my team ahead of my first day and was a really good way to help sooth the nerves!

In terms of personal training, the company invested a lot in me. I have had the chance to attend several training courses such as Customer Satisfaction and Excel training. I have also had a lot of time invested in me as I have been allowed to go and experience things that are outside my job role, in order for me to gain greater exposure throughout the wider business.

I would say they are very appealing and although VWFS does not currently have any graduate scehemes available, I would definitely consider coming back after university, if there was a suitable job vacancy open.

There was a good social scene amongst all of the undergraduates and I can definitely say I have made some life long friends.

As I moved from Newcastle to Milton Keynes for my placement year, the cost of living for me seemed quite expensive at first. However I soon became used to it and it was great and very exciting to live in a different part of the UK for a year.

In terms of the Night life, Milton Keynes has a few clubs however if ever we went out, we would normally go to bars. I would say I have definitely experienced better nightlife, however London wasn't a million miles away so if ever we wanted a big night out we would just hop on the train there for a night.

There were lots of opportunities through things like Teamswork and Corporate Social Responsibiliy (CSR) to get involved with activities outside of work.