Purchasing Undergraduate Review

There were a lot of processes to learn and become accustomed to, so the placement started slowly. After around 3 months I became heavily involved in projects and enjoyed the work a lot more. The people at the company were friendly and easy to get along with which made the placement a lot more enjoyable.

The first 3 months I felt more of a burden on my colleagues as I wasn't adding much value - instead I was learning off them. After the learning period I felt a valuable member of my team. Completing tasks to ease their workload along with independent work on my own projects. I was praised from senior management for my report out of my project so my work didn't go unnoticed.

The initial training was off site and tailored for new starters. This broke the main operations and processes down into easily digestible learning. The real learning however was once I started in my projects, where if I had a problem I could attempt to find an answer myself, then if all else fails my supervisor would be able to guide me to the answer.

The first few weeks I was extremely busy - there were a lot of introduction courses to the company, how processes work and information days. Once these ceased I found myself with not a lot of work for a couple of months until it slowly picked up around the 3 month mark. Working towards a report out date for my project naturally made me extremely busy in the few weeks prior, however it was never to an amount where I had to give up weekends to complete my work.

I was given a significant amount of responsibility during my year. I had to collect data and analyse it so that senior management could make strategic decisions. I didn't have the responsibility of making the decisions but I still felt very responsible as the management were making decisions based on my findings. In other projects I was responsible of nominating suppliers for multi-million pound contracts that will last 20+ years, albeit overseen by my manager I still felt highly responsible.

The connections made and skills developed have put me in good stead to come back as a graduate. The use of computer programs in my year are transferable so the skills I've gained this year will be useful wherever I may end up. My placement year has also provided me with a dissertation topic and the contacts I can use as my primary data source. Without going on placement I would have found next year much harder to complete a dissertation.

Everyone had a job to be doing so at times it was very quiet if people were working on their computers. On the other hand it could be very loud if everyone was on their phones - it completely depends. The office all know who each other are so there was a good amount of conversation too.

The placement had no real structure to it - it all depends on what requirements your team has at the time you join. There are a few key dates for undergraduates to meet throughout the year however each undergraduate in my area were doing different things during their working day.

The first few weeks I was heavily invested in, bringing myself up to speed with the company, how it operates, and the main processes. This was also done in hotels offsite with free meals provided. My colleagues would also spend time to explain things to me and give me things to do where it would have been quicker for them to do it themselves - which shows dedication to developing new members of the team.

If a placement student impresses during their year they will be put forwards to early consideration for graduate take in, Then, you would join on a two year scheme. The scheme however is seen more as a job - but this is not a bad thing because it is realistic of what you would be doing on a day to day basis as a fully fledged employee in the department.

During the inductions all of the undergraduates found themselves together. This was a good opportunity for networking and to make friends. We also arranged an undergraduate meal between us to celebrate one month into our placements. Out of work activities with colleagues were also common, with pub quiz nights, bowling and a netball match to name a few.

I was fortunate to live at home during my placement however I have from others that their income has matched their expenditure during the placement this year. The company has links with a university to provide student accommodation to reduce the cost of living for undergraduates that are living away from home.

Being close to a university campus one would assume the nightlife would be good, however a student card of that university is needed on a night out so the nearest night out would be coventry or birmingham. Personally, I didn't go to either of these places but as they are cities, there would be a lot going on should one want to go for a night out.

There were activities in the department on a 6 to 8 week basis. Other than this there wasn't much going on. There are volunteering in groups or individually opportunities available during the year should a student want to fill their evenings/weekends. They change regularly and led by the C S R team.