Market Planning Analyst Review

I really enjoyed my placement at Volkswagen Group. It is a fantastic company with amazing products. The focus they put on employees development and training really resonates with me. The exposure being an undergraduate has in the business along with the opportunity to undertake different projects is a lot more than I thought! I enjoyed my placement as I really enjoyed my job role – I found it very interesting. Also I was given a wide range of work to do which increased my knowledge on not only the car market but also businesses on a whole. My team also had a great team environment/atmosphere which made me want to come back the next day!

I definitely felt valued by my colleagues; everyone is really interested in what you are doing, how you are getting on and if you need any help. I was also given a wide range of responsibility which made me feel more valuable by colleagues as I was trusted with important work.

From the start of my placement I was provided with several different training days (for example Excel intermediate training, excel advanced training and MVRIS database training etc..) and different courses to attend which really did help me with my day-to-day activities. My team were also very supportive; I always felt free to ask questions and always had detailed answers in response.

On a daily basis I was very busy. My busiest periods are the beginning and end of the month (month end). I did monthly packs and reports as well as well and daily reports and send them out to various people in the company. I also get various adhoc questions. I always had work to do, there was never a day when I had nothing to do. During the less busy periods (i.e mid month) I would get on with preparing for month end and any other analysis which may be useful for the rest of the company.

The undergraduate programme has provided me with significant responsibility – from daily reports that get sent out to most of the company to vital work which is included in the Year end analysis pack. Due to my planning and analytically skills I have been given numerous opportunities to create reports and analysis that the managing director has requested. I was also given the opportunity to work on my own project which was great fun!

The skills I developed would definitely help me in university and beyond. I learnt numerous skills such as time-keeping/time management skills – which would be important for going back to university, excel skills – my coursework at university is usually excel based so the excel skills would definitely be of great use. Due to the importance/significance of some of the reports I had to do. I learnt to pay high attention to detail which would be of great value when I go back to uni (studying financial maths)

The general atmosphere in my office was a very welcoming one. The office has a good work ethic and there was definitely a good work-life balance with many colleagues which increased everyone’s moral levels. Everyone looks out for each other and at lunchtime my team would all get lunch together and a few of us would go on a walk around the lake. The atmosphere therefore was really good. I did feel that I was treated like a permanent member of staff.

Volkswagen Group UK has a really good undergraduate placement programme. It has been set up really well. Before starting I was invited for a ‘Familiarisation Day’ where I got to have lunch with my team, have a feel of the company and also meet the other undergrads. I did think that was a really good idea. On my first day everything was ready already. I went to collect my laptop and equipment had a tour around the company and was all set up and ready to start working by the afternoon. It was really well organised. Definitely a lot of planning has gone into the programme to make the undergrads fit in straight away! I did enjoy my first week a lot.

The company invested a lot in me and the other undergraduates in terms of training and development. I undertook excel training (both intimidate and advanced) and also MVRIS training in London at the SMMT. I also had regular catch ups with my manager to discuss my development, and what more I needed to do or what more I wanted to get involved in. The company put together really good courses for the undergrads to attend which built our commercial awareness and also knowledge which was really good. There are many courses to attend and the undergrads are more than welcome to sign up for them which shows the company treats us all equal which is another really good benefit of undertaking a placement at VWG.

Very appealing! I would love to come back to Volkswagen Group UK, I will apply for the graduate scheme and try to get onto the programme. I’m attracted to the exposure being a graduate has in the business along with the opportunity to undertake different projects. After speaking to current graduates I’m even more excited about the graduate scheme as beyond the business as usual activities, I would enjoy shadowing an area manager and Mystery shopping different retailers.

There is definitely a good social scene amongst fellow placement students/colleagues. When we started we all used to go out together but I guess you then make your friends out of the wider group and go out with them more. On a whole I would say the social scene was okay.

I shared my flat with my friend from university which was great (we were both on the same placement at VWG). The flat cost £450 each which wasn't too bad. We also started off doing food shops together which made it less costly. We were lucky and got a flat which is only 10-15 minutes away from the office, so we were only doing a few miles per day and therefore petrol wasn't too bad. It really is just like being at university although you actually have money! Socialising was fun not too costly – we would always car share with the other undergrads to save cost and petrol.

Nightlife is not that great in Milton Keynes unfortunately. However, Milton Keynes is only 30 minutes away (by train) to London. Nightlife in London is amazing so we usually would get the 30 minutes training into London and go out there. Therefore although Milton Keynes nightlife is not great it didn't really matter. There are many restaurants in Milton Keynes which is good; the undergrads would occasionally go out for dinner in town after work or for some drinks at a bar.

There are many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. However, I wasn't able to get involved in as many activities as I would have liked. I do not find this a bad thing because I was developing on key skills in office and I really enjoyed having a high level of responsibility. I did manage to get involved in charity events occasionally which were good. I think the opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work definitely depend on the team you are in and also the level of responsibility you have.