Co-Ordinator Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement as I had the opportunity to learn about the way a business works, as well as about the truck industry. I have also been able to get involved in different departments to see what type of work they do. This has allowed me to get a bit more of an insight into different career paths that could benefit me.

I felt very valued by my colleagues, as a lot of the time the work that I was doing was meaningful and being used by my department. This included both my project work as well as the admin tasks that I was doing. The effort was made to look through my work and it felt like I was part of the team.

I always had support and guidance when I needed it. My manager was around most of the time, but when they weren't, there was always someone there to support me in some way. Whenever I asked for help, my manager always took time out to help me or advise me. If I ever needed anything, I was always helped to find what I was looking for.

Due to having both admin and project work, I had these both to balance. there were times were I was busy and had lots of work- but this was good as I had enough time to complete it. however there was also times when it was a bit quieter and sometimes looking for something to do. This was expected though as sometimes I was between project work.

I was given a lot of responsibility in being able to manage my own work and my own projects. It was up to me to decide the amount of time I would spend on them as well as setting some of my own deadlines. Some work that was given to me by other people in the department held too much responsibility as it was not the stuff I would know being new to the business and I did not have much help, so this was a struggle. Aside from this, the amount of responsibility was good and it allowed me to plan and organise my own workload.

The skills I have picked up will definitely help me in future careers and university work. My confidence has greatly improved, as well as my communication skills. I also had the opportunity to do a few courses which have helped me in being organised, managing my time, presenting and using spread sheets. these are skills that I can use at university and in other jobs. I can carry these through with me to show how I have developed.

At times it was quiet, especially on Friday's. However most of the time everyone was really friendly and chatty and there was a good atmosphere. Most people made the effort to talk and everyone got along well. There was always some sort of food or cake in the office as well which was always good to perk up the atmosphere.

The placement was set up well, despite being last minute for myself. It would have been good to have been told a little bit about what to expect and what we would need to bring, if anything, to prepare. We also had a 2 week induction which was a little long and some parts tedious/irrelevant however some aspects were very valuable in learning about the business and being introduced. From this, the rest of my placement was set up well and I had a plan of what I would be doing for the rest of the year.

There was a lot of opportunity when it came to training and lots of choice of courses to go on. This included presentation skills, time management and Excel in different stages. If there was ever a course I wanted to go on, all I had to do was ask and then I would be put on to it.

There is not currently a graduate scheme available which would stop me from coming back straight away. However if there was an opportunity in the future that was of interest to me, I would come back, as long as there was a role that suited what my degree was in.

It was ok. Between the interns, everyone grouped off after the first few weeks, so there wasn't too much interaction with everyone and a few people distanced themselves. However, the social scene was good and we stayed with the same people throughout the year which was nice. Amongst other colleagues, it was good socially within the office but there was nothing outside of that.

I did not live in the area, so cannot comment on this. There was not much socialising done outside of work in the area either, so again cannot comment but the area is quiet and there isn't much around the workplace. There is a pub around the corner which we visited a few times.

I never went out in the area so cannot comment on this, but locally there is either Birmingham or Leamington Spa which is ok.

There were a few opportunities to get involved, however they were more towards the start and the end of the placement. Not many of the other interns did attend or really want to do anything so there were not really many opportunities. It was also harder to do things as many people, including myself commuted so it would mean getting home quite late.