Marketing Communications Placement Student Review

I have really enjoyed my work placement at Cummins. I have worked amongst a great team who are always willing to help and encourage me. I have learnt a great deal and have worked with a wide range of people including colleagues in the USA, Europe and the Middle East, I have also worked with external suppliers.

I feel valued by my colleagues. They always respect the work that I do and the decisions that I make. I have felt like a full time employee since starting at Cummins and I am not treated as though I am only here temporarily.

My manager has provided me with the level of support that I have needed since my placement began. Initially I had a lot of support from my manager and now I have less support as I am encouraged to work more independently on projects. I have found that whenever I have questions my manager is happy to answer them and step in if necessary. We regularly have meetings to discuss what I am working on and we discuss what went well and what I can improve on for next time.

How busy I was varied throughout the year. It depended on the projects that I was working on and the deadlines I had. However, overall I found that I was busy, I always had something to do and I never found I was clock watching.

I was given a good level of responsibility throughout my placement. When I started I had a good level of support but as the placement went on I found I was managing projects on my own with the expectation that I would deliver at the expected level within the expected timeframe. I have worked with a range of colleagues and stakeholders throughout my placement.

I haven't yet returned to University to complete my final year. However, I am sure that my placement will be of benefit to my studies. I no have a far greater range of experiences that I will be able to apply when looking for graduate jobs and when writing my essays. I also feel I will be more motivated and productive as I have had to apply myself for working 9-5 everyday.

The overall atmosphere in the office was good. The team I was working amongst was always upbeat and friendly and we didn't take ourselves too seriously.

I feel the overall placement was well organised. When the placement first started we had a few days to settle in with an introduction, this included meeting other placements and a gradual introduction to the teams that we were working amongst. For the first few months we had a training day once a month to develop our skills, for example we had a session on team working and another on presentation skills. Once we had started in our roles we were all given an individual mentor to go to if we feel we needed support from someone other than our managers. We were all given individual goals to achieve in terms of soft skills and skills related to our roles, we were given feedback from our managers and team members to assess how well we are doing and if we are working towards these goals.

As mentioned we were given regular trainings at the start of the placement to increase our soft skills and hep us to work well in our roles. I was also given the opportunity to travel to the US with my team, where I was able to complete the Myers Briggs personality training to see my strengths and weaknesses. I was also able to attend a days training to gain an understanding about generators and how they work. Throughout my placement, I was also given a range of tasks to complete on placement so I could gain a broad number of skills.

I would be happy to return to Cummins once I have finished my degree and will definitely explore Job opportunities within this company.

Yes there was a good social scene, there were about 20 other placement students where I was located so there were always people to socialise with. The other placements were also happy to make plans outside of work so that we could get to know each other in more of an informal way.

I was able to live at home during my placement so I was able to save on living costs.

The night life in this area is ok. There are nice bars and restaurants around, this provided us with some good places to go.

There were a few opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. Cummins has a sports and social club so they arrange various trips for staff throughout the year, there is a wide range of options catering for everyone. There was also the opportunity to get involved with some team sports that others were participating in, I was able to attend some of the badminton sessions that were organised once a week. Cummins also provides many opportunities to get involved in the local community, and is encouraged as a part of everyone's work plans.