Finance Placement Review

I really enjoyed the experience as a whole, it has taught me vital general skills such as professionalism, time management and working with others. It has given me a detailed insight into my area and immediately gave me a large amount of responsibility which has helped me develop.

In my role I spoke regularly with a wide range of people in an assortment of departments. They tended to be supportive and helpful while I got to grips with the role. After a few moths and I became confident in the role it was nice to feel valued as a normal member of staff too. My role didn't have much interaction with my immediate team though, as the role is a bit isolated. On occasion I did feel a few colleagues took the chance to shift blame on to my role as I was junior.

My Placement got of to a slightly tough start as on my first day I was told my manager had changed from the one I was previously been introduced to at the induction day and that my new manager was away for a week. In his absence the rest of the team were very welcoming and the previous placement student helped me settle in. On my mangers return he was very helpful whenever I asked or needed anything from him. My management wasn't particularly hands on and I did feel quite isolated on occasion. I felt supported when I asked for help, but i didn't feel the management was very proactive, but it is very hard because the department has been extremely busy for the last year.

The workload was very varied which I enjoyed. It was nice to experience stressful high workload situations while it was balanced out with more relaxed periods. Work tended to focus on smaller projects and ad-hoc work rather than any major long term projects.

I feel that I was given a lot of responsibility from the start of my placement. My role was that which had been done by a manager level employee three years ago, so it was a tough job with lots of intricacies. I had a months handover where I didn't take on much responsibility, but after that I was given a large amount of responsibility for important data.

In General I have vastly improved my soft skills, by working in the business. I have learnt prioritization and professionalism which has helped me greatly. I was slightly disappointed because the job was initially offered as two rotations of 6 moths in different roles which would have given me a chance to experience a different side of the business, but once I joined this wasn't offered.

The atmosphere has changed recently with a shift towards more collaborative working. I think this has helped the team work together more. The atmosphere was always quite serious which clearly encouraged a hard working environment. Compared to other placement I have heard about it was definitely on the more serious side. It is nice that the open plan office mean that senior management figures sit with the rest of the company.

To start with it was fairly hard to settle in as for my first week my manger and the previous Placement student who was to show me around were both away on holiday. This combined with the fact it took me nearly two weeks to get my IT access set up meant that I felt a bit of a spare part. It would have helped to have been set up immediately on arrival or in our prior induction in April. We did have a very useful and thorough three day induction that familiarized us with the company on the whole and taught as about important information. When tough situations have arisen the company has been been very supportive and helpful.

The company provided several training courses which were very interactive and engaging. I enjoyed how our feedback was taken on board for how the training courses were developed based on that. The initial three day induction was useful and I enjoyed going out and visiting dealerships to familiarize us with the brands.

I would hope there is good options as I know previous placement students in the past have been invited back and the person who did my role two years ago recently joined as a graduate. Although its hard to comment as so far this has not been discussed with just over a month to go on my contract.

There was a very enjoyable Christmas Party with the whole company. We also had a departmental party to bond and celebrate our year. There was only 5 placement students this year and we all lived far apart so I found we didn't really have the best social scene. Coventry is not the best night out, but the bars and clubs in Leamington Spa, were nicer and also more studenty due to a large number or Warwick uni students living nearby.

Rent was cheaper than what I normally paid at University for what was very nice flat. The cost for socializing was fairly average I would say.

Coventry doesn't have great nightlife, although Leamington is nicer and only 20 minutes away by taxi. Also it not far on the train to Birmingham which is much bigger and a larger selection of venues. Even London is only just over an hour on a quick train, which is a good night.

There weren’t many opportunities easily available. I played football regularly on a Monday night; this came through the old placement student who used to play. There are not well publicised options though and so it is best to ask around, because I also ended up joining the same cricket club as a couple of colleagues.