Internal Audit Undergraduate Review

I really enjoyed the time I spent at VWFS. The highlight of my placement was the amazing sense of teamwork and trust throughout the business. I was able to build great relationships with people right across the business, in different departments and different levels. My manager gave me a challenging yet comfortable amount of responsibility through which I was able to increase my confidence in my abilities and interpersonal skills enormously.

I felt valued throughout my time at VWFS as colleagues from around the business set aside their time to do overviews of their departments with me- I was able to develop my business acumen in a really supportive environment. My team were really friendly and encouraging from the start of my placement and the more time I spent at VWFS, the more responsibility I was given, which was a great indication that I was on the right track and my colleagues trusted me.

My line manager was always supportive right from day one. Her confidence in me made me feel more confident and more motivated to develop myself to carry out my role better. She always made time for me if I needed it and I felt truly valued throughout my time at VWFS. The rest of my team were the same, if I ever had a question they were happy to help.

On a daily basis I was pretty busy; I always had something to work on and when I'd finished that, I'd find something new to do or my manager would ask me to do something. Working in the Internal Audit department, the work was always varied and the amount of testing or meetings or walkthroughs of processes depended on the audit. In the quieter periods of my placement, I was able to arrange insight days around the business and complete some online learning courses VWFS provide, so the even in the quiet periods I could stay busy. I never felt overwhelmed by the busy nature of my placement though, it was a really good balance between what I had to do in my role and the extra things that I wanted to do voluntarily.

I feel like I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement, my team and my manager just treated me like any other employee. Before I started, I found the concept of some of the tasks I would be undertaking quite daunting due to their importance, however when I joined I was given excellent training by my team and these tasks became business as usual. I never felt like I was under pressure or uncomfortable with the amount of responsibility given to me.

I think that my soft skills have been developed greatly through doing my placement at VWFS and I've learnt things that I'd never be able to learn at University and many other jobs. My business knowledge was incredibly basic when I first joined VWFS, but now I know so much more about how companies are structured and how different departments operate, knowledge which I couldn’t have gained if I was in any other role. I'll be able to use my improved analytical, communication and presentation skills in university and in my future career.

The office atmosphere at VWFS is friendly and welcoming. They brought in a smart/casual dress code when I first joined so it doesn't feel as corporate as I thought it would and the people are all quite relaxed too. Everyone I met was really passionate about their work and my team were great fun to work with.

I feel like the placement was well organised, this was in part due to the fact that my manager was great and just treat me like any other employee but HR also set up lots of lifeskill sessions and events so that we could keep in touch with them throughout our placement.

My team and people from around the business set aside time for me to teach me about their areas of expertise, so in terms of time, VWFS were very generous. I also took part in an internal course to boost my influencing skills which was really beneficial in boosting my confidence too. I was slightly disappointed that I couldn't attend external courses, such as IIA seminars, however my manager gave me lots of materials from courses she had attended which allowed me to still do the learning.

There's a graduate scheme every other year which undergraduates can apply to and get "golden tickets" to the assessment centre stage which is great depending on which year you've gone on your placement. Unfortunately I would have to wait a year after finishing my degree to join the scheme, but there are lots of permanent jobs available often and I could also get a golden ticket for the VWG graduate scheme if I wanted to.

I really enjoyed having 26 other undergraduates at VWFS with me and there was a great social scene amongst us. Everyone who moved to Milton Keynes for the placement lived with one or more other undergraduates and there were often night outs or things to do together on a weekend. I went on quite a few team lunches and a couple of team night outs too while I was on placement which were great fun.

If you have a car, Milton Keynes is great and there's lots of things to do, however taxis are pretty expensive and it takes a while to walk anywhere. Depending on where you live in Milton Keynes, rent can be from around £300-£500 a month if you're sharing a house/apartment, but it's not really a university town so housing can be quite difficult to find for a group of people.

Compared to university towns, Milton Keynes isn't too great as it's a bit expensive. There are lots of bars but only the one club which was quite expensive but a good night out.

Depending on what you wanted to do I think there were lots of activities available. There are lots of sports teams in Milton Keynes and a running group, VWFS also puts on yoga/pilates sessions and has a football team. They also put on external speaker talks after work on different subjects which were interesting and you got to network after too.