Purchasing Intern Review

The placement year itself had many ups and downs which is to be expected in a working environment. The Rolls-Royce Purchasing scheme is made up of 2x6month placements so you could view each one as a different job almost due to the nature of Rolls-Royce's business, of which I would say I enjoyed both but one much more than the other.

Whilst my colleagues in my 1st placement treated my like family and respected what I was doing I felt slightly more distant in my 2nd placement due to the nature of my work. The most important thing however, was that both my managers really appreciated what my skillset was and what I could add to the team and tried to offer me work that would make best use of my skillsets.

In my 1st placement my manager was extremely busy so it was more of a dishing out of work and collecting it in rather than a guided process which I found quite daunting to begin with but managed to become accustomed to it. This cannot be said of my 2nd placement of which my manager was much more available and happy to give guidance so I could get on with a task rather than spending to much time trying to elaborate on what he may have meant.

Some days I was rushed off my feet trying to meet deadlines and doing extremely long days in order to meet requirements whilst other days I had little to do. Reflecting back on it there is always work to do so I should have asked for more work and tried to help colleagues out with there workload.

The responsibility given in my 1st placement was incredible. I could not believe what was entrusted with me as I would expect it to be left to a member of staff with extreme knowledge or a manger of some sort so it was a great experience to be able to demonstrate that I was able to deliver results and that management trusted my capability. As a result of one such project I got a lot of recognition and networking with high managers due to the nature of the project.

I feel that this being my 1st major placement in a large organisation that everything I have developed here will be able to assist me later in life as well as the contacts made.

Whilst I think it takes anybody a while to get used to the general atmosphere in the office, once I began to feel a part of the team the atmosphere was really good and enjoyable to be in.

I would say that this was the main downside of my placement. I felt that there were certain key elements that really needed to be done better at the start for the benefit of the intern. I was told about 5 weeks before my placement commenced that I was going to be based in Bristol rather than Derby and that I should look for accommodation. Whilst that seems relatively comfortable to do I was just going into my 2nd year exam schedule of which didn't finish until the week before placement commenced so I had to trust 2 other interns with the task of finding suitable accommodation when they were in a similar situation.

I would say this is one of the main benefits of working at a large company, they have the resources and infrastructure set up to develop you in the ways you seem fit to do so. They have a huge online training database of which you can choose what courses you seem fit to book onto and the graduate base generally had no problems with me attending with the costs.

Whilst I'll be looking elsewhere for employment due to what I am looking to pursue, I would say that the future prospects within the company based on working life are great. If you can see yourself doing a job in one of their graduate schemes then I would say take it. The main drawbacks for me were that they have cut the finance graduate scheme for now but also the location. I feel that in order to progress you need to be located in Derby of which I am unwilling to do so.

I was based in Bristol for 6 months and Derby for 6 months. The Bristol scene was really good and I felt that the social scene was really really good. We came in with the year interns as well as the summer interns and the events organised by the Apprentice Association were really good, with trips to the 3 peaks, sailing, and organised night outs. Derby however, due to my time of arrival and size of the site was a true shock to me as the location is not great and I only met fellow placement students 2-3 months into my arrival.

Bristol's cost of living was expensive I would say however, in comparison to my university location (Surrey) I was used to the prices of socialising and it may have been slightly cheaper then I was used to. Coming to Derby was a complete shock to me in terms of every aspect of living being cheaper then I expected, be that going out, eating or accommodation.

Bristol nightlife was really good, lots of things to do and see with a wide range of style of venues to suit anyone. I didn't truly stay in Derby so couldn't comment on its nightlife but didn't hear wonderful things other than it was cheap.

Yes, Rolls-Royce on both sites I worked on operated a variety of STEM events to cater for different interests and help out the wider community.