HR Shared Services Undergraduate Review

My placement year at Volkswagen Financial Services was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. The team were very welcoming and really made me feel valued from day one, making joining the business a relaxing experience. The work that I undertook on my placement year was both challenging and stimulating therefore I feel like I have gained a lot of valuable skills that will enhance my employability in the future.

My colleagues were very understanding and supportive of my personal development needs throughout the year, meaning that I was heavily encouraged to get out in to the business to grow both personally and professionally. In addition to this, I was made to feel like part of the team and not just as an undergraduate further increasing my enjoyment in the role.

I had regular one to one meetings with my manager to discuss my progress within the role and any training that I felt like I need. I was set business and personal objectives by my manager to encourage me to work towards something more than just my job role. This was followed by two formal reviews, which gave me the opportunity to display what I had been working on over the past few months, what went well and what I could have done better. Overall, the support i received from my manager far exceeded my expectations when I joined VWFS.

I always had work to be getting on with, either through my daily tasks or outside projects. The content of the work was challenging but manageable meaning I was never left to feel overwhelmed. The work was very varied, giving me the opportunity to work with different areas within the department to gain great exposure.

I was given just the right amount of responsibility. Over the year I worked on different projects and tasks giving me a sense of ownership over my work. I was not treated like an undergraduate but rather as a valued member of the team.

The skills that I learnt on placement year at VWFS will definitely help me to secure employment after university. VWFS pushed my out of my comfort zone and grew me as an individual, some of the key skills that I have developed are: time management/efficient working, organisation, commercial awareness and presentation skills. Walking away from my placement year I feel like I am more confident and more proactive in my work.

The offices at VWFS are very light and open. The office that I worked in continuously had positive vibes which made for a very welcoming and calming environment. I felt comfortable from the first day walking in to the office due to all of the friendly faces that welcomed me, and this did not change throughout the year. The overall atmosphere in the team in positive with people enjoying their work and the company around them.

The whole placement year was very organised starting from the recruitment process all the way to the end of my placement. The recruitment team were very good at making contact with the undergraduates both at the first stage and at the offer stage. In addition to this, the HR team organised a familiarisation event in April before the placement so that the undergraduates had an opportunity to meet each other and arrange housing. The programme was very well structured, giving us the opportunity to engage in personal development activities as well as work based learning. Towards the end of the year, we were given the opportunity to present our year to the Board of Management and Heads of Departments which was great for our individual exposure.

There were plenty of personal development opportunities at VWFS starting with a development programme designed for undergraduates and apprentices. During this development programme, we were able to attend sessions on interview skills, LinkedIn, digital awareness and many more. However, we were also encouraged to engage in development opportunities outside of this structured programme allowing us to shape our own learning to our desired outcome. For example, I was able to undertake courses relating to my future career as well as microsoft courses such as excel. Overall the development opportunities at VWFS are absolutely fantastic.

There is the opportunity to apply for the Graduate Scheme both at Volkswagen Group and Volkswagen Financial Services, meaning that the options you have following your placement are varied. Both schemes offer a rotational programme so if this is something that will suit your skills set and career goals then the schemes are very good.

VWFS arranged a familiarisation event before the placement year offering all of the undergraduate the opportunity to meet and create friendships in advance of their placement year. This was a great start to placement since we all had a friendly face when we walked in to the business (which is usually a daunting experience). I have made friends on placement year that I will continue to keep in contact with following placement and university.

Milton Keynes is not a typical student city, this means that the average price of accommodation, nightlife, food and drink tends to be higher. However, there are places in Milton Keynes that are a bit cheaper to rent and some of the undergraduates managed to secure very reasonable priced houses.

As mentioned above Milton Keynes is not a student city, therefore the average night out is more expensive than a normal student night out. However the up side to this is that the bars tend to be nicer with a more grown up atmosphere. Milton Keynes is a relatively safe area meaning that you do not need to look out everywhere you go, making it a more friendly city than some student cities.

There are opportunities to get involved in sporting activities outside of work however these aren'y heavily advertised so you may need to ask a few people about joining in. There is a great school volunteering programme which gives you the opportunity to mentor a student at a local school who is gearing up to taking their GCSE's, A-Levels and beginning to think about going to university.