UK Purchasing Assistant Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year with Lubrizol, I was given more responsibility than I ever thought I would be given with regards to leading meetings, meeting key members of staff within the organisation and by the end of the placement, managing key supplier relationships. My experience of the Hazelwood site is that it is a great place to work, full of friendly people who are always looking to support you.

Throughout my placement I was made to feel like a full-time member of staff by my colleagues as I was constantly given important work to complete and not just daily routine tasks. The tasks I was given to complete had a huge impact on Lubrizol's operations & majority of the time involved large sums of money. Also, my opinion was often sought on situations from more experienced members of staff which helped me to feel valued.

There is a large support network around you whilst on placement from all members of the department/organisation with no question being ignored. Weekly department meetings and meetings with your supervisor also take place which are useful, as well as the door always being open should you have any concerns to discuss.

This can range depending on a number of factors depending on the time of year to the specific projects that are taking place throughout the organisation. On some occasions the workload can be quite overwhelming with the reality of you only being a placement student sometimes forgotten. However, I found it useful to be pushed out of my comfort zone. On the other hand, on occasions the workload can be quiet and your initiative may be needed to decide what tasks to work on. However, again I sometimes found this useful as I was able to be creative in thinking of solutions to wider problems & think of how I could use my academic work in real-life situations.

As previously discussed, I was given a wide range of responsibility from the beginning of my placement right until the end with a variety of tasks given including: placing orders & contract management (sometimes of very high value), managing supplier relationships etc.

The skills that I developed whilst on placement have definitely assisted me in deciding on the career path that I would like to take and as a result will help me in my future roles. They have also enabled me to have real-life examples to use in my degree studies. This is also the case for the training that I received.

There was a general positive atmosphere within the office, as the department was fairly small there was a fairly close-knit atmosphere. Although it could be said that there were not many occasions that the team spent all together & could therefore be improved upon.

I think that the overall work placement was well thought through and as a result was well organised. Lubrizol have experience in what makes a work placement beneficial for students, especially as the level of responsibility was increased at appropriate levels throughout the placement.

I would say that a fair level of investment was made in myself mainly through on-the-job training and exposure to a wide range of experiences. An effort was also made to introduce myself and other students to high-level employees of the organisation. More formal training resources such as Harvard online business courses were available but I struggled to fit this in due to a lack of available time.

Lubrizol is an appealing place to work with many opportunities provided for employees. The only shame at present is that there is not an official graduate scheme available & with the purchasing department being quite small, thought needs to be given with regards to promotion prospects - it may be the case that you'd need to be open to switching departments also.

There are plenty of sports and social activities to get involved in if you wish with regular emails sent with regards to the upcoming events. The restaurant on site is very popular and is also a good place to socialise at lunchtimes.

From speaking to the other students I believe the cost of living to be quite low and it is as expensive as you want to make it.

Hazelwood is a rural area but you are not far from Derby city centre.

Yes, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in. These are opportunities available for all members of the organisation rather than department-specific activities.