Finance Review

I very much enjoyed my placement year with Caterpillar NI. I didn't know what to expect when I applied for the role as the exact details were not too clearly defined. However, I have found my work extremely interesting and sufficiently challenging, the days certainly haven't dragged, especially the busy ones. It hardly feels like a year is almost up since I started. It's actually going to be a disappointment having to leave!

Overall I felt that I was made to feel very welcome by everyone hear at Caterpillar. I feel like my team and colleagues value my input and appreciate my ability, I am not treated as an intern who is just there to do menial tasks. I also feel like the other departments within the business whom I support value my work and have come to trust that when they ask something of me that the work provided will be of a high quality and done so in a timely manor.

I could not fault the support given to me by my manager. Every time I have a question they are always very helpful and supportive; as well as being very knowledgeable to provide me with the quality training and guidance that is needed when undertaking new tasks. Also there are several other very experienced team members who have a wealth of knowledge and are very helpful when my manager is not available.

Overall, I was adequately busy most days and often I had several days of work planned out in advance during busy periods. As my knowledge and ability increased my work load was increased accordingly. Part of my role involved managing a shared costing inbox so there were some times when the traffic in it was slow around holidays Etc; resulting in slight drop offs in the work load but these times were few and far between.

I believe that I was given as much responsibility as you could expect to have in a placement role. I was almost solely responsible for managing the DK Costing inbox which saw me doing a vast array of costing requests. I was in charge of running the overnight re-costing failures, chasing up errors with other departments to ensure that costs were correct on newly released sales orders. I also create a file and lead a weekly cost meeting with the Solutions engineering team, working together to get the correct costs for solutions orders.

During the course of the year I feel like I have gained a vast amount of experience and new skills, as well as having the chance to develop skills I already have. I went from having very limited and basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel, to now being very proficient and well versed in many of excels functions, I now feel like I can manipulate most files to get the data that I want fairly independently. I have also gained new skills on the SAP program which will benefit me enormously going forward as many companies use this system. Furthermore, I have been able to add a new branch to my teamwork skills, developing my ability to work not just within my own team, but within the wider business in a corporate environment.

I think it's hard for the fin to never stop in an office, if there's any work being done that is! I would describe the atmosphere as quiet and industrious as there aren't a lot of people on our floor and often everyone has their head down getting their work done. Sometimes people are frustrated with errors but overall the atmosphere is friendly and everyone gets along very well. The atmosphere wouldn't stand out as something I would complain about as I prefer the peace and quiet as opposed to the hustle and bustle of a busy office.

At the start it was a bit slow getting set up with all the necessary IT systems and programs Etc. Also my manager and supervisor both went on holiday for 2 weeks soon after I started which didn't help. However, once it got going my manger had a very clear plan for how my work placement was going to go and it has worked out really well.

I was given adequate training to operate to a high standard in my role and I have had lots of opportunities to learn about the wider business of Caterpillar. I was given a tour of both Cat NI facilities in Larne and Belfast and I also attended a CV and interview skills workshop lead by the HR team. Something I would have really liked would have been a day of SAP training as I very interested in the was the system works and the problem solving aspect of it.

There is no reason why I wouldn't want to work for Caterpillar in the future and there seems to always be a number of positions being advertised. Once in the company there seems to be ample opportunity to advance your career through promotions in your own role or similar roles with other departments. It would just be a matter of the right role coming up at a good time to get your foot in the door so to speak.

Personally I was the only placement student on my team so I didn't have vast amounts of contact with other students but I know some other did. As far as social events with other colleagues, we had a Christmas meal and night out which was fun but that was it really.

I live in Belfast so travel expenses were quite high, was spending roughly £200 a month on fuel. Rent isn't too bad in the area I was in but I understand it can be quite high in the city center. As far as food and social activities Etc I would say that it's on par with the rest of the UK and probably slightly cheaper and other major UK Cities.

In Larne there's not much in the way of nightlife, however, Belfast is 20 miles away and there is plenty of nightclubs, bars and restaurants of all shapes and sizes. There's really something for everyone and there's plenty of good student nights around the University and City Center areas. there is less than other big cities in the UK but definitely enough to have a good time.

Yes, there were plenty of charity events put on by Caterpillar. I was able to partake in the Belfast Marathon relay where we had 9 teams entered from Larne and Springvale. There was also a walk up Cavehill and a charity cycle of 30 miles. Some team remembers also volunteered helping at a local school for disabled children.