Retail Measurement Specialist & Network Planner Review

.Great experience, large variety of tasks / activities. .Demoralizing work environment, uncertain future. .Little to no employee benefits. .Dated work practices. .Undergraduates given real responsibility. .Unnecessary top heavy management structure. .Flexi time as advertised in the contract is rarely tolerated. .Office is situated in a rough town (unavoidable), I would not consider the location to be safe walking alone after dark.

.Minimal, 80-90% of workload lies with undergraduates / graduates, with minimal reward, however the majority of managers praise completed work before passing it on as their own work. Good undergraduate community. .Non management colleagues are down to earth, are easy to get along with. .On one occasion work I had completed was recognized in a management meeting where I received a bottle of champagne in appreciation, this was a lovely gesture from a manager who deeply appreciates the work and time undergraduates put into the department.

.Initial manager (7 months) was extremely unhelpful, struggled to understand the responsibilities of the undergraduate role and failed to support me during the learning period due to personal lack of knowledge or processes. (3 stars) .New manager, previous undergraduate and current graduate was extremely helpful, knows the role inside out and manages expectations perfectly, also supports the role when necessary with undergraduate development at the forefront of any decisions (10 stars).

. Extremely busy during initial 4 months, partly due to the compression of 2 previous roles to form my new placement responsibilities. . Wide variety of roles and tasks, building a large array of transferable skills. . Some work directly related to my academic studies. . Help was available when workload became unmanageable, fellow department undergraduate / manager relieved any excessive pressure.

.Given the opportunity to complete tasks for all levels of senior management including MD. .Treated like a permanent employee rather than a temporary student. .Trusted to communicate directly and spend time in retail outlets representing head office. .Required to hand over all job responsibilities to the future undergraduate, ensuring they have all the tools in order to progress in the role.

. Transferable skills developed will set me well ahead of other graduate candidates when seeking graduate employment. . Have received little formal training, most skills / software developments have been acquired through trial and error. . Some accounting based work can be related to my degree studies, however little else can be applied during my 4th year. . Biggest development relates to my commercial awareness and increased confidence developed while working in such a large organization.

-Dull work environment, often felt demotivated. -Department is often half empty, leading to very little interaction with colleagues. -Redundancies and job uncertainty has lead to a noticeable negative atmosphere across the organization. -Very little social interaction. -Staff feel out of the loop with regards to the future of Vauxhall in the U.K.

-Poor recruitment process, was only informed 24 hours before my assessment center was scheduled to go ahead that it was going ahead as planned. -Confidential documents were misplaced during onboarding. -Good handover structure, with sufficient time to learn the role. -Future undergraduate recruitment was left far too late, leading to departments settling for sub standard candidates.

Little to now investment in undergraduates, all learning is acquired through handover and trial and error during the initial phase of the placement. Minimal formal training is offered to undergraduates, only bare essentials. This still has to be requested and pushed by the undergraduate, management will not go out of their way to organize or offer training. With cost saving at the forefront of any company decisions, I believe valuable training will only decrease in the future.

.Vauxhalls future within the U.K. is extremely uncertain, with future redundancies likely and external recruitment ceased. I do not believe there will be any available positions for current undergraduates to return as graduates do to the current organizational condition. . It would be unwise for me to rely on a graduate position at Vauxhall, and if an opportunity arose at another manufacturer I would likely go elsewhere.

.Although I did not partake in the majority of the undergraduate social scene, I believe there were several activities advertised during onboarding and throughout the placement year. .This has to be one of the highlights of the Vauxhall placement, there is a great community spirit amongst undergraduates. .The social scene with other colleagues is completely opposite, other than the once a year xmas lunch (1-2hours), there is little opportunity to socially interact with full time staff.

-Rented privately with my partner who also moved to the area, £650 p/m in a relatively nice area on the outskirts of Luton. -AVOID LUTON TOWN CENTRE AT ALL COSTS. This area is not safe to walk around / socialize or commute on foot after dark. -Property in the town center may be cheap, however it is wise to stick to properties advertised in the Vauxhall housing pack.

Awful, Luton should be avoided at all costs. Horrible demographic and extremely unsafe! Some wonderful areas outside of Luton, ie St Albans, Hitchin and Harpenden are often expensive and involve inconvenient travel.

-Company CSR days -Xmas lunch (had to return to work) -Retailer visits (work related) -CI inspections (work related)