Resourcing Undergraduate Review

Some aspects of my job I really enjoyed however at times, I did feel as though I wasn't treated like an undergraduate as opposed to an actual employee. Despite this, I gained exposure to a lot of responsibility.

I had a really good team at the start of my placement and great support from some members however changes to the structure later on in my placement meant that I sometimes felt undervalued.

I found myself taking on a lot of responsibility during the first 6 months of my placement with often little contact time and lack of 1-2-1s. I am quite an independent person so this did not affect me however I would have preferred more weekly catch ups.

Some days I would find myself extremely busy however there would be days where I was struggling to find things to do. Luckily I like to offer my support to the wider team and had taken on opportunities that kept me busy.

My position allowed me to take on a lot of responsibility and this made me feel important to the business.

Training was provided and workshops were ran especially for undergraduates!

Based on the team that I was working with, at times the atmosphere was quite tense in the last few months of my placement. This may have been because a lot of changes and restructuring was taking place. The overall atmosphere within the company was always positive with a great vibe when you walked around.

Some placement positions completely differed from one another. I think that some positions were given more exposure, guidance and support and this differed from line managers. Despite this, I hit the ground running from day 1 and was able to develop work related skills throughout the year.

An online portal was available for training that was able to be completed in your spare time. Workshops were run and the L&D team were fantastic with their support.

VWFS have recently just started a graduate scheme and it was positioned to the 2016-2017 cohort of undergraduates that they would help design the scheme by presenting a proposal to the board of management. After this, we were not kept updated and only became informed of this when we saw the advertisements for the graduate scheme 2018. Despite the assistance of the undergraduates, no "golden tickets" are being awarded to the undergraduates despite the sister company VWG offering these; allowing those who are interested in working for the company again to return without completing the whole recruitment process.

As I lived at home and commuted I did not attend most social events however the undergraduates would often go on nights out and live with each other. I was lucky enough to make friends for life with both students and colleagues working in the business.

As I commuted, it cost me a fair bit to travel and going out would often be expensive.

As it wasn't a student town, it is not as appealing to go out however there are countless places to eat and bars to have a drink or two at!

There are lots of opportunities to help out in the local area, join sports clubs and attend career fairs.