Globalisation Undergraduate Review

I may be biased, as I am a massive petrolhead, but working at JLR is incredibly satisfying. To work towards the future of one of the biggest (and most desirable) car brands in the world is really special in itself, and this was built on with the work I was doing. There is a plethora of opportunities within the department I was in, and being in project management showed me a vast amount of how different teams run.

The team I have are very easy to get along with, and understand that I am here to gain experience. Hence, I've been able to push myself in a variety of different tasks set by different team members. Whilst slow to start with, the trust level of my colleagues accelerated over time and am now considered on par with a normal employee.

Weekly 1-to-1s were set up, and 80% of the time these happened, which given the demands of the project I'm very happy with this level. There were lots of chances to discuss development throughout the year, and I have been able to take part in much larger training sessions and educational activities.

Hard to answer, as this is a project management placement - it will always vary. Some days I was flat out, some days I worked from home, but when that happened it happened to the rest of the team too. Comes with the style of placement!

I was given a surprising amount of responsibility early on, as I am in charge of information security for on of the biggest projects that JLR has undertaken! This was proven with a heavily confidential meeting of around 200 people, where I had to individually identify all 200 people before entering the meeting...

The biggest skill I've developed is timing. Creating timing plans will inevitably help me in final year, and will almost certainly help furthering my career. Creating networks is another skill I've learned, and I've already used this to full effect in other departments in order to explore new career options.

Generally, very positive. It's hard to have a genuine team atmosphere ins a project of over 300 people, but in the main office at least most people know each other and understand everyone's needs.

In terms of getting set-up, that was fine - I received my laptop on the day I joined, and all the paperwork was waiting in my inbox when I arrived, and there were no technical issues (except for a laptop that died on me, but that can happen to anyone). In terms of what work I was doing, it took a good month or so before I really had a genuine role. This is more likely down to inexperience and starting a new job, but it would've been helpful to see a task early on that could've helped snowball my workload.

JLR has a scheme called ELS - Employee Learning Scheme. Twice a year, you get funding to help develop yourself, and it doesn't have to be in an area that'll benefit JLR. Personally, I got funding towards driving lessons (I had 10 lessons paid for by JLR) as well as a Rally Driving course. Other undergrads did classic car driving, paintball, karting - a colleague of mine even did a tiling course in order to to some DIY around the home!

The Graduate scheme as many different options and perks that are very appealing, and I fully intend to come back to JLR when final year has ended. I have been offered a grad position after a full end of year review too!

Not as such, but there are a few options around. This is due to the undergrads being spread around the country. There is a facebook group which is set up beforehand so you can speak to all the other undergrads in JLR, and most 3 month undergrads live in the same complex, so they socialise frequently. Location-wise, Coventry isn't widely known for it's social scene, but Leamington Spa has a few good locations, if a little upmarket.

Living costs were fine, as Coventry is quite cheap to live in (for a reason though...). Leamington can be quite expensive, as some undergrads live there. As most socialising happens in Leamington, it can be quite hard to get from Coventry for a night out, but it's generally fine. Taxi's aren't too bad either.

Never really explored the nightlife in Coventry, but most of the team nights out were in Leamington. Not too far from Birmingham, which of course in known for being pretty good in terms of nightlife.

As mentioned before, the ELS is really good for this, as well as different types of off-sites and so on were available throughout the year. For a lot of the different activities you have to be self-proficient though, and find out about different activities (eg, I found out about a JLR karting league by chance).