Structured Finance Production Analyst Undergraduate Review

I believe that my year with Volkswagen Financial Services UK has been an extremely enjoyable one and also very beneficial. I have developed numerous skills on my placement year and I think that I will now be a more attractive proposition to any prospective employers in the future once i have finished my final year at university.

When joining Volkswagen Financial Services UK I felt instantly appreciated by my colleagues and a real member of the team, which was as a result of forming effective working relationships with each colleague. It is important that i complete my work on time and accurately as this has a direct consequence on the team members and helped me to gain their trust, which has resulted in being delegated extra work from other colleagues as they feel they can rely on me to complete tasks in a timely manner,

I feel i received the right amount of guidance from my manager at Volkswagen Financial Services. Initially he ran through all of my daily tasks and procedures i would need to complete in the month. Once he felt i was ready to tackle these myself he would leave me to it but was always close by in case i needed any help and was very approachable. We also had weekly 1-to-1 meetings which would help me to keep him updated on how everything was going and if i had any problems i was always able to share them with him.

My tasks were all done on a monthly basis and so the start of the month was a very busy period for me and my whole team, however once this was all completed the last few days of each month would be much slower, especially if i completed the work at a faster rate than i expected. However the last few days of the month were where i would be handed extra tasks by my manager such as improving processes and i was able to go on many of the training courses that were available.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility during my placement which i was pleasantly surprised at considering that i was only on placement. I was given the opportunity to improve procedures which affected large businness transactions and also help build new spreadsheets which would be used to collect important data. I was also handling very sensitive information so it was important that i made sure only certain members where able to view this.

I believe that the skills i have learned and developed on my Placement will be very useful to me in the future when applying for jobs once i graduate, Unfortunately they won't help me directly with my studies in my final year as the role was not specific to my course, however from being in the corporate world i have been able to develop my general skills, especially communication and IT skills.

All colleagues in the workplace are very friendly and welcoming to all types of people. Colleagues are always looking to get everyone involved with many social activities held and celebrations for birthdays and big achievements. Even with the large number of employees here i still feel that it is easy to get on and have a chat with anyone in the business, right up to the directors!

The work placement during the time i was here was great with numerous updates and meetings asking us how things were going. Also, months before we started working we attended a 'familiarisation day' where we could all meet up and a great way to get to know each other. Unfortunately it was difficult to find accommodation before the placement began and was given little help which was disappointing.

There were numerous courses available to me during my placement year which were of a great help to my personal development and also a useful way of better understanding the company and the financial products it offered. I attended a number of different courses which all aided me in developing my personal skills and also any IT related skills such as the Microsoft Office courses.

I would love to work at this company again, unfortunately they do not offer any graduate roles and so if i would like to return i must reapply for a role and go through the recruitment process once again. However from gaining experience here i feel it would benefit me and give me and edge on other applicants.

There was a large number of Undergraduates here so it is very easy to make friends. There are also numerous social events put on by teams in your departments such as the 'walk to the pub' which can be very helpful to allow you to make good relations with people you might not normally come into contact with when working around the office.

The cost of living in Milton Keynes is not as high as somewhere like London, however it is much more expensive than up north. The same can be said for the prices of drinks and going out in the town which is much higher than you would expect at University. Milton Keynes also has a very large shopping centre which might help to kill some time.

Unfortunately the social scene in Milton Keynes was not quite up to a high standard. There are a number of bars which are great to socialise with friends in but there are very few clubs in the area and not too many students around. If you have the chance it is possible to make a short trip to places such as Northampton and Birmingham in the car or its only a 40 minute train down to London.

The social team comprised of a couple of members from the department and they would try to make sure there were events as regularly as possible for people to look forward to. These were always a big hit especially the Bowling events. There were also regular chances to go out for meals with members of your team.