Branch Support Review

I really enjoyed my work placement due to the amount of responsibility and opportunities I was given. Throughout the year I was able to provide ideas to the team that were always taken seriously, with some being put in place. I did not expect the experience I have gained, and am very grateful for it.

I felt incredibly valued by my colleagues from the day I joined. I was the first placement student for my role, and I was made to feel like a permanent member of staff and was included in all projects they were working on throughout the year. The people definitely making Honda.

I was given a great deal of support from my managers, and never felt like I could not approach them if I had any questions or queries. They were very open with me and gave me good feedback throughout the year about how I was doing, and areas I could work on.

This naturally varied from day-to-day but usually I had a lot of work to do. As I worked within a relatively small team we were able to share work around meaning if I had less work on one day, there was always something for me to do, meaning I was never bored.

A great amount. After an initial settling in period, and once I began to understand my role more I was able to produce reports for senior management, and given tasks working towards big projects. I was always made aware of what the team was working on, and included when my skills could be used to help.

My degree is very different to the placement I undertook, however as I am looking for my future career to be in this area, the skills I have learnt, and experience gained, are invaluable. There is little training given by Honda themselves, with most being learning on the job, however this worked well for me.

The office atmosphere is relaxed meaning you're able to chat with your team whilst doing your work. Because of the layout of the office, you are also able to get to know people from different departments who you may not necessarily work with which is really nice. Overall I liked the atmosphere.

There was some areas which could have been improved, such as we had different start dates, and did not really have any training together which made it quite difficult to get to know the other placements. However this has now been changed and I think the new undergraduates should see an improvement.

I believe HME invested in me when I did not expect it. This is mostly because I was given the opportunity to do some European travel during my time which came about because they treated me like a permanent employee, and equal member of the team. Due to this I gained an incredible amount which is invaluable.