This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
During my internship at BMW I really enjoyed the possibility of having own projects and tasks. I was responsible for a lot of different tasks on my own. Therefore, I could learn how to manage projects on my own and how to deal with different colleagues from different areas within BMW.
My colleagues really warm welcomed me at my first day of my placement and were really kind during my placement. They offered me to support me in all my tasks during the time here. If there was a problem I had always the possibility to ask all of them. Even if there were not in my age it was always funny to spend time with them.
My supervisor was absolutely amazing. From the beginning until the end of my internship he had always enough time for my issues. He offered me help wherever I needed it. On the other side he encouraged me to be more comfortable in my work. Through his leadership knowledge I gained a lot of different new insights about my own knowledges and abilities. He was the one who gave me an idea how valueable my work is for the future.
All in all, I had a lot of work to do during my placement at BMW. I was never bored during the six months here. I was really stressed from time to time but was always happy to have that much work to do as all the work was of big importance and was linked to a lot of responsibility. All in all, it was a perfect balance of work and fun.
As I already mentioned, my supervisor gave me a lot of responsibilites during my placement. I had my own projects in whereas i was responsible on my own. In addition, they offered me a lot of help and also great feedback to have a good feeling about your own kind of business there.
All in all, I have not learned a lot of different complete new skills regarding IT etc. All in all, I had learned all necessary skills in advance. It was more like gaining an insight how use the previously learned skills in a business environment. It was more like gaining skills in business behaviour.
The Company
It was a friendly and kind atmosphere at all times. My colleagues werent really "chatty" so all of them were quite quiet but I really enjoyed it to be part of the team. From time to time they organised some group activities after work. Once a weeek we met for having coffe together.
It was well organised from the beginning to the end. This was the effort of my supervisor on his own as the HR department werent that quick to sign off all the important documents in advance. During my placement I got continously feedback from my supervisor and all was well organized.
There were a lot of different online trainings available where I had the chance to attend. Unfortunately I wasnt able to attend trainings which costs something but I think that is normal for an intern. We also had several team workshops. An external person gave us some useful tips about our personality so I gained an insight about me personal skills which was way more useful than every other online training.
Flexi Time
Subsidised Canteen
Company Car
Within BMW it is normal to do several internships, afterwards a trainee programm and then if you had a good result you can apply for jobs there. Otherwise you are not able to apply and get a job at BMW so it is quite hard to find a job just right after the internship.
The Culture
At Plant Oxford there are a lot of prevous students/interns and there are a lot of different channels to meet, get feedback and help for them. There is the What app group and BMW Facebook group with about 200 previous interns who can communicate there. in the social life there were interns social meeting once a week which I was enjoying a lot.
Unfortunately Oxford is not a quite cheap place to live so you have to spend a lot of money for your rent. Cowley, where the Plant Oxford is located is cheaper than the city center but even there, you have to spend about 500-600 Pounds per months. The food is also expensive.
Oxford is a great place to live and work. You can go to the city center which takes about 15 minutes per bus and there you can find a lot of different bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants. Cowley hasnt got much to offer in this area but there you can go to the gym and on the weekend you have the possibilitiy to go to the cirt center so it is a good mixture of work and going out in the evenings.
Oxford and the area around Oxford offers good possibilites to see and visit a lot of things. There is Oxfordshire area where you have great landscape and outdoors. Within Plant Oxford you have the possibility to loan some MINI cars whereever you want for some days so you can also spend your weekends outside in another city and explore different areas of England.
Details
International
February 2018