Business Planning Analyst Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the placement year, I was given work that mattered and was meaningful. This allowed me to develop my own personal skills and seeing my work contribute to the success of the business gave me a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

I was given the feeling that i was definitely a valued member of both my small Business Planning team as well as the overall Sales team. I saw my workload increase constantly throughout the placement as stakeholders became more and more confident in my ability to deliver work on time and to a high standard. They also made it aware to me that they appreciated the work i had done for them and didn't just speak to me when they wanted something from me.

I was given support and guidance whenever it was required, I could go to anyone whether it be my manager or a senior stakeholder if i needed support or had a question that needed answering. Cummins also use a buddy system where you are paired with someone else in the office who you can arrange meetings with if you wanted to discuss any problems or challenges you were facing.

The work is done on a cyclical basis so every month you have an overall job to provide the forward looking forecast for the future 36 months this meant that i had roughly the same amount of work each month, depending on how many Ad Hoc requests we had on top of this. Due to the nature of the business some weeks are extremely busy (Week 1 and 2 of the month) and then some weeks are a lot more quiet (Weeks 3 and 4). This often meant that we would do 75% of our work in this first 2 weeks and then 25% in the remainder.

The workload for preparing the Greater Europe forecast was split evenly between my manager and I so i was definitely given a lot of responsibility within the role, obviously this grew over time to lead up to this stage. You are developed during your time so you are able to handle the amount of work you are given and you can really see your development each month as you pick up more and more tasks and see stakeholders come directly to you with requests and questions as your work improves.

As i took a role in Business planning there is not a direct effect on my skills for my University course (Accounting and finance), however the computer skills and work ethic i have developed can definitely be transferred to my final year of studies. Beyond University the skills i have learnt through working for such a large company I will definitely be able to use and develop to advance my career in the future.

Everyone in the office was approachable and you could have a conversation with them whether it was about work or things outside of work such as the football at the weekend or a TV show. It was a traditional office in the sense that it was just desks split out by department, senior stakeholders either had booths or Offices next to everybody else, although they were busy they were always approachable and willing to help you out. It was easy to develop good relationships with everybody and enjoy yourself. The office was combined with a factory where Gensets were being made so as well as doing work to plan and forecast Gensets you could also watch them be made and take a look round the shop floor.

My role had previously had placement students before so there was a good network already set up and i could come in knowing what sort of work i would be doing, I had a 2 week handover with the previous placement to learn the key aspects of my role and then worked alongside my manager to continually advance my skills. HR set up both internal and external trainings to help you understand both the business and work environment as a whole. They also set up a Facebook group before we started so the placements could get to know each other and help arrange accommodation.

Both internal and external training events were set up to help develop your skills and understanding about the business and work environment. There were numerous training sessions provided as well as company training meetings offered throughout the year. In terms of investment in myself stakeholders gave up their time to help you develop and become better, for additional training and long term courses more investment would be made if you were to return in a graduate / full time roll.

Future employment options are available after your placement if you have done a good job, built relationships and really added value and helped the business succeed. If you are good enough to come back they will find a role for you although it may not be in the same job as your placement role, Cummins aim to keep talent and fast-track placements when they apply for other roles in the business.

Placements and Graduates at the business got along very well and were easy to make friends with. As well as this there are team meals and activities put on throughout the year to show appreciation and help with team bonding. The office also has a Sports and Social club on offer that you can join which runs numerous activities each month, you can choose to go to any amount of events that you are interested in and can get tickets without being a member.

The cost of living was ok, I lived in Canterbury which has express trains into London so i wouldn't class it as cheap or expensive (Rent £425 per month) As i go to the University of Kent i chose to remain near Uni friends, Canterbury is a University City so there is a lot to do and the town is very Student orientated it is also commutable to London as mentioned if you wish to go there for a day/weekend.

Canterbury has 3 Universities in the area so there are quite a few clubs in town as well as on Campus. It is also fairly cheap for drinks and entry especially on student nights, this can also very between clubs so you can go out whatever day suits you. Although there isn't a headline club that you might see across Britain there are still 2/3 main clubs that most people will go to and it will always be busy. There are also numerous bars around the town.

There was the Sports and Social club which ran many events you could get involved with if you wanted, team events are also organised occasionally to help with team bonding. As you become friends with people in the office you can go out for informal things, for example 5 a side football was arranged between placements and graduates.