Finance Placement Review

I enjoyed my placement to a very large extent. When I first started, I was only expecting to be involved in routine tasks such as reporting and analysis. What I was not expecting was to be involved in tasks such as accelerating depreciation on fixed assets and coordinating leases.

I felt highly valued by my colleagues. They helped me to settle in and find my feet, they included me in various responsibilities and team projects which have to be completed in finance to meet set deadlines and they included me in various discussions, even if it is not related to the work.

My current manager only was my manager during the last eight months of my placement due to my former manager leaving. He has coached and developed me, which has led to me improving on my skills and approach to various tasks.

I always had plenty of work to do but not to the extent that I would feel stressed out or unable to cope. If I did feel that my workload was too much or I needed more work to do, I felt happy to open up to my manager if necessary.

I was given a large amount of responsibility. For example, I was coordinating the leases on site, making sure that all of the leases are in the records and any leases which needed to be terminated or transferred were actioned in a timely manner.

The skills which I have developed and the training which I have received will be useful for my degree and beyond. One example is presentation skills as during my placement, there have been many opportunities to present. One of my presentations was to a large group of twenty people. This experience of presenting to people will be beneficial as I will be required to present during my final year of study and in future jobs.

There was always a positive atmosphere in the workplace. What helped was the family dynamic of the workplace, with everyone having conversations with each other about various subjects including current affairs, culture and our hobbies, whilst getting on with the work tasked.

I think that Cummins are well organised in terms of what was expected of placements. At the same time, they were flexible as they wanted me to give them ideas of work which I wanted to do which would benefit my experience.

Cummins has invested in me to a large extent by providing training and opportunities for me to build on my skills. This included training on Cummins Learning Centre, Sykes training, corporate training and lunchtime presentations.

My future prospects with Cummins are appealing. I am currently applying for the Finance Development Programme which will lead to further exposure to different areas of finance, support towards my professional qualification and other perks such as the provision of accommodation near each site where I would be expected to work.

I got on very well with the other placements and my colleagues, like a Cummins family. We socialise whilst we are getting on with our work and at lunchtime, talking about our hobbies and other topics which we are interested in.

The cost of living did not affect me too much because I have been living with my parents during the year.

I did not go out very much during my placement. However, the nightlife is enjoyable.

There were many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work including clubs and leaving dos.