Operations Student Review

At the beginning of the year and the reason I took on a placement rather than going straight into third year of my degree was to springboard my career and to learn as much as possible to aid my degree on return to University. I feel that I have achieved this. I have learned a great deal from this year, my manager has been very encouraging to my learning and I have been given autonomy in my role to perform tasks so that I do not feel like an intern but a fully capable employee.

Each colleague is different as in any company. I feel that my manager values the work that I do and has praised me for high quality or extensive work several times. In contrast other employees senior to me have said things like 'I'm not here to teach'. In general people have been very accommodating and have recognized that I am a student so have looked to help me wherever possible.

My manager is largely hands off but always made time for me if I needed help or guidance on a project. He would set up meetings for reviews well in advance and would regularly put my needs at the forefront of an agenda. His guidance has massively helped me throughout this year both personally and on a professional level

I feel that I have been the busiest student in the plant this year. I have looked to take on additional tasks and assist with projects even if they are not directly related to my department. I have at no point during the year struggled to find work to do or thought that I am being under utilised.

I am the Charity Coordinator for the plant and led an 11 person team in our projects for the year. As well as this I have been responsible for multiple planning and drawings of line setup and implementation of changes within the plant. I have been given a strong degree of autonomy to complete tasks on my own and come to others when I need help rather than being micro managed.

I have strongly improved communication and time management skills, as well as spending the year in a professional environment which has taught me a great deal about my options once I leave University. I have had over a week and a half of direct training and have been in charge of production teams. The experience that I have had at Faurecia has helped to make sense of what I have been learning out of the textbook and has given clarity to some of the work I have performed for my degree.

Downstairs was a very relaxed atmosphere in the bullpen. We have all gotten on well and though we are at work, the chat is constant. I think this has been helped by having a very young average age and sitting near to positive colleagues. During customer visits there were of course more reserved atmospheres but these were often brief.

We did not have any uniform or workstation setup when we first arrived and there have been no bonding opportunities given by Faurecia for students other than our welcome and wrap up sessions at the beginning and end of the year. Other than coming in and getting on with work set by managers, there has been little variation offered by HR.

All training that I received was internal. The training I received was largely people's time invested rather than any special investment. The training I received was largely essential to my role in the company rather than to my learning as a student. The company has many online training courses but nothing personalized to the individual.

The company offers a fully subsidized graduate programme for a Master's degree, this is done on day release from the plant. There is also the VIE scheme that let's you work abroad for up to 24 months. This seems really appealing, because of the size of the company there are many opportunities in a great deal of nations worldwide.

Not really, most of us do not live in the same area and the company has offered no bonding opportunities for students to feel more comfortable with each other and make friends. THIS IS THE BIGGEST FAILING OF FAURECIA'S PLACEMENT SCHEME. I got on with everyone but I can easily imagine someone more introvert really struggling especially in the early months of their placement.

Generally OK, I have been paid more than the living wage and the rent I have paid for this year has not been too dear. I joined the local football team and made friends through that. The area I was living is quite sleepy and I could have done with a bit of extra info on the area before I moved in.

Weak, Having come from a very busy city with loads going on, living in Lichfield was a bit of a culture shock. I had to really try to make friends and did feel fairly lonely before Christmas, there are no company outings or even a Christmas party. This became easier as I made more friends moving further into the year.

Only one. A football 6 a side tournament was organised in May, this had been pushed fro by several employees for a long time before It became reality. The event was very successful and it is surprising to me that this has not been a springboard to organise further events for staff.