O/V Commercial Vehicles Finance Analyst Review

Opel/ Vauxhall has facilitated my personal career development all throughout my time here. I felt like my work had a significant impact on the business and unlike other job placements that my friends have taken, my role at Vauxhall felt like a proper job that demands commitment from full time employment.

Though most of my colleagues are based in other parts of the world, I felt like my colleagues in the same program treated me as an equal. My contributions, concerns and opinions were taken into account. Perhaps one example is being given the responsibility of providing the cost estimations for 2 new vehicles that we are launching next year. I definitely feel that my manager values the work that I do as well. I can see that he has faith in my abilities and has made me solely responsible for a part of his role.

Support was available when I needed it. Everyone was understanding that I am still a University student in my first real role and didn't mind if I asked the same question 5 times. Everyone in my team has helped me perform my role well but not to the point where they were babysitting me. They let me do job but had an open door policy when it came to understanding the Vehicle that I was working on.

It depends really. At the start I felt like I was busy always busy but as I got accustomed to the role, I felt like there was a good balance in my workflow that I could maintain. Of course, there will be heavy periods of time where the task was quite demanding but overall I could manage the flow of work.

As I stated earlier, I've been given a lot of responsibility. There have been moments where I have had to lead subjects to completion. I do feel that what my role provides makes an impact to how the program is run from a Finance point of view

Perhaps not so much my degree... Other than transferable skills that is (Time management, Initiative, Excel skills etc.) but definitely has prepared me for a future in commercial Finance. The knowledge and understanding of how a manufacturing company works from a Product Development Finance perspective is translatable to other functions like Purchasing and Supply Chain.

When it came to work, it was completely serious. At times you had to watch what you say or do as it could be held against you and your team but at the same time, this was supplemented by encouraged downtime in my team where everyone would take a few mins out of the day just to chat about non work related topics. It was good because I when it came to work, I knew I would be able to focus and not be too distracted but at the same time not have each day be just about work.

When it comes to the actual role, there is no set structure. It's just you filling a spot in a team. However, the training and tours at the start weren't organized well. The first few months were rocky when it came to accommodation and there was an issue with remuneration that was solved.

There was training but only specific to what I was doing (which I guess makes sense). There was not much that would bring me above what I could currently do.

From the beginning they how slim the chances are of being taken on as a graduate. They don't have a graduate program so to speak and when there is a spot for a graduate you'll be competing with 3 to 4 years worth of undergrads for a spot there. It seems to me that in certain functions, they value having apprentices more than undergrads as their prospects are higher.

There is a large amount of undergrads so there were always events or parties set up but I wasn't to into it so never joined in

A little more expensive than what I'm used to but it's fair. Luton has University of Bedfordshire so the cost of living there is still manageable - especially with a salary

I do not go out much but nothing too big. It's pretty good for a small town.

Depends on what you're into. The undergrads usually have weekly football. Other than that, they're keen on CSR. Throughout the year, there are days set aside for CSR and you're encouraged to take part.