Work Placement Student Review

DHL offers a very wide range of roles, and were able to find me a role that fit my interests. This really helped me enjoy the role as I was involved in work that I had a genuine interest in, in my case finance and data, and I was really able take ownership of many areas of my work. This responsibility, along with a team who were very positive and willing to help me with anything meant that I really enjoyed my placement.

From day one of my placement it was made clear that I wasn't just here to make coffee - I was given real responsibility to add value to the business by creating reports that would be used at a board level. I was often given feedback and thanked for the work I had done and it was clear that the work I was doing was valued.

I very rarely had any issues with being able to get in touch with my line manager, no matter how big or small the request, they were always contactable and quick to respond. The graduate team, who look after work placements, were also always on hand to answer any question regarding the program, development, or anything else if for whatever reason I was not able to get in touch with my manager.

At the start of the placement, I did find myself twiddling my thumbs a little, but as the program went on and I became more confident in myself, and after having some one to ones with my manager, I found that I became quite proactive in the work I was doing and tried to get in touch with people to look for work, and once I got the hang of this, I found that for the remainder of my placement I always had a good amount of work on, never too little, however maybe at some times too much (but this was possibly my own fault for taking too much on)

I was given full responsibility for all things to do with Power BI within the center of excellence. This involved reporting on how we are spending our apprenticeship levy, graduate recruitment figures and patterns, and the progress of our certified and site leader training programs, all of which were used at board level. I enjoyed this responsibility and felt this was when I produced some of the best work.

I believe that I will have a wide range of things that I will be able to use to help me both with my final year, and with my employability in the future. It helped to get to see finance in a real world scenario, rather than just in a text book and I think that this will really help in my final year, as well as looking great on my CV.

I believe I was very lucky to be a part of such a positive team who I shared so much in common with, which really allowed for me to feel like a part of the team from day 1. There was never a boring day in the office which really helped when things were not going as well as they could be.

Our placement was well set up with it being made clear from before we started what development opportunities would be on offer to us. Our placement included a presentation skills module, a leadership and communication module, and a CSR project where we went into a school to deliver an employability skills workshop. All these modules were very interactive and enjoyable.

I felt that the company invested a lot in me. In addition to the modules that were a part of the program, the graduate team also arranged a networking event where we got to learn about all different business areas and meet all the current grads, and the offer holders from this years recruitment campaign. I also got to attend a 3 day Certified Supply Chain Management course, and got to spend time at lots of different areas of the business, such as talent acquisition, with only having to ask. There was also a Christmas Party for the whole center of excellence.

If there is one thing I learned about DHL it would be that no one stays in the same role for too long. There are so many opportunities to move around the business, be it across the globe, or across the UK business, employees are able to explore all areas of the business to find their area. The graduate program would be the realistic next step and there are lots of programs available, and as a work placement student we have a very good chance of making it onto this program.

The social scene wasn't brilliant with the placement students however this is largely due to us all being located quite far away from each other (I was in Sheffield, nearest other placement student was in Nottingham). However, we were bought together around 5 or 6 times through the program and at these events it was really good to catch up and hear about what they have been up to.

I was lucky to be able to get a job in Doncaster, which meant I was able to remain living in Sheffield (where I go to university). I remained in student houses and we got a really cheap house, with student social prices. DHL have roles all over the company so it is likely that a placement will be able to live somewhere that suits them.

The nightlife was what I expected living in Sheffield - a very student heavy city, and I knew the area from my first two years of university. I know that other placement students all live in large cities with a good nightlife, such as London, Nottingham, Bristol and Manchester.

There wasn't loads going on outside of work apart from the occasional Friday night drinks. We had one Christmas party which was very enjoyable and clearly was not a cheap do. We often got to travel with work and it was nice going out for dinner when staying in a hotel in, for example, Milton Keynes.