IT Undergraduate Review

My work placement at Jaguar Land Rover was really great! The work and projects I was a part of were groundbreaking and cutting edge, the teams were passionate and intelligent, and the results were astounding. The reason for losing two stars was work was not always available and some days you would have nothing to do and other days have too much work to do, the placement lacked balance and structure..

My managers said that they valued my work, however I felt this might have been an over the top description as the work I did was either in supporting roles or personal research/projects to further the business. Nobody was negative about my work, however I suspect white lies were told about the value of my work.

This is one of the areas where the placement falls down, unfortunately. Due to the nature of the job and the Jaguar Land Rover ethos, placement students are encouraged to "find work and jobs to do when not busy", this should be easy in practice but many colleagues felt that we were not skilled enough or did not have enough expertise to handle their teams' work. My manager gave me direction which helped, unfortunately our HR contact left halfway through the placement leaving us stranded. The placement really needs a structured approach with monthly goals, presentations and things to work towards, otherwise it becomes a lot of self research and not a lot of "real-work" completed. I would add that managers also need a lot more advice/education on what work to give us so that they can manage us more efficiently.

Similar to the lack of guidance. I am fairly motivated and quick to complete tasks, however tasks were assigned with the same timescales as that of a normal employee who might normally have 3-4 parallel projects. This led to me completing tasks much faster than my managers could cope with and them running out of ideas. Some days I had very little to no work and then some days I worked all day non stop. Again there needed to be more structure and balance to the work given. Perhaps personal projects or research projects could have kept us working for longer.

Not a lot. During my placement I was exposed to multiple teams, projects, and work. However, even though I was given work to do, I wasn't given responsibility instead I was given separate tasks. A much better approach would have been to give me a job role and responsibility for a project, with deadlines and guidance on what work needed to be completed so that I might have done personal research, produced appropriate documents etc, instead of amending/spell checking/reviewing the odd document.

This placement was real surprise to me. What it allowed me to do was to explore aspects of the industry that I had not previously encountered on my university course. I explored departments alien to me and ended up changing my career path to one of them because I enjoyed the work so much! So technically it hasn't furthered my degree a great deal however it has been hugely influential in my career beyond university as I know have a clearer idea of what specialisation I would like to work in.

It was an office atmosphere. People sat behind monitors, often talking on Instant Messengers to people 3 feet away. The industry really had got a long way to go when realising that a fun atmosphere improves productivity and increases employee happiness. There were occasional office events (BBQ s, car unveilings etc.) however the day to day office atmosphere needs a serious improvement to come into line with current companies.

The initial "on-boarding" process was very well structured with a physical task sheet with links to appropriate material to complete. Lots of e-learning and an online tracking system for the e-learning. Managers eased us in gently to the office environment, IT equipment was ready on the first day, passes all set-up for building access. It all ran smoothly. There were a few delays with certain equipment deliveries and building permissions but these were fixed within the first 2 weeks.

The company paid for me to undertake courses both JLR provided and externally provided. They paid for me to attend Expos, Certifications & Exams. Fuel & Transport was paid for for long journeys. The level of investment was exceptional. If you asked you 99% of the time received it. Personal training was seamless, with online forms and guides to the expected outcomes, it was all linked into your personal e-learning record so that employers could track progress. Absolutely state of the art here.

Jaguar Land Rover have stated that if they have space on the Graduate scheme in the Summer they will offer me an immediate place! From what can be read and understood it is in their best interests to offer me a place due to financial investment, great scores on my annual assessment, and familiarity with the company. The prospects of work are good too with departments expanding all the time and employees swapping roles regularly to find what fits best.

There was a specific group set up by JLR for fellow placement students that encouraged meetups, provided subsidises trips (quad-biking, paintball, sports), and tried to bring together all the placement students. Not used by myself due to personal reasons it looks engaging and fun, with weekly updates and events for everyone!

During my placement I lived at home with my family which reduced costs, however the daily commute was < 40 mins which was affordable for a 1.0L car, transport links were available (shuttle buses from other sites and areas), socialising is expensive as Leamington, Solihull, and Birmingham can all be quite expensive to socialise in. The onsite cafe provided subsidised food however which makes lunch cheaper and more affordable. Overall it was no more expensive than any other city I have lived in.

I don't know what the nightlife is like because I didn't go out much with work because of travel constraints due to living at home with parents and most towns being a 20-30 min car ride. I am aware of a lot of pubs and clubs in Leamington, Solihull and Birmingham, with the latter having nightlife considered more dangerous. However I'm sure in such a large city as Birmingham there is plenty of nightlife available.

There were a few opportunities to get involved with JLR outside of work, mostly through the undergraduate/graduate groups set-up to provide days out such as paint balling and quad-biking to members. Other than that there didnt't seem to be any regular meetups (I can only speak for my two departments). Other departments seemed to have a regular weekly "curry night" or "pub quiz" nights.