Fleet Suppy Undergraduate Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my year at VWFS. I have been exposed to a wide range of opportunities and experiences and been able to grow my network along the way. I feel I have been given real responsibility and treated very much as a permanent member of the team. The culture at VWFS is welcoming and friendly and settling in was easy. The placement scheme runs regular "LifeSkills" sessions and gives you the chance to learn beyond the restrictions of your role. It has prepared my extremely well for when I graduate university and go into the working world.

I felt valued by my colleagues a great deal which really gave me a sense of purpose in my time at VWFS. Being treated like you are one of the team and not just passing through for the year means I have been trusted with important tasks, projects and work. In my monthly reviews and team meeting I have been able to hear positive feedback about my work which has given me immense satisfaction and made be feel truly valued.

I am very happy with the level of support and guidance given to me by my manager. I have had monthly 1-2-1 review meeting to breakdown how my month has been and which positives or negatives I can take from it. This is a long with a deep dive Performance Development review after 6 months of being with the company. As well as this I have always felt I could reach out to my manager for support on tasks when I have needed it and have never felt like a burden. I have learnt a great deal from my manager.

I always felt I had something to do and was fairly busy most of the time. We naturally had some busy and some quieter periods but I never found myself bored and without anything to do. I also never felt overwhelmed with an unmanageable workload and knew who I could speak to if things did ever get too much.

As one of my worries before beginning placement was that I would not get enough responsibility I was pleased to find out that this was not something to be concerned about. I was given a good amount of responsibilities working on tasks and projects that added genuine value to the business and my department as I was never told to do things just to fill the time.

I genuinely believe what I have learnt this year has been incredibly valuable for me. From the basics soft skills to more applicable technical skills I have become a more mature and well rounded person during my placement. It has given me a better work ethic and a general insight and appreciation as to what I need to focus on to excel in my future career. I think going back to uni I will be able to complete my degree to a higher standard than had I not done a placement year and I will also find it easier to find a job after uni.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the office. Particularly in my department there was a very welcoming, friendly feel to it and I built some great relationships with my colleagues and have met people I am sure I will stay in contact with after my placement. It was a positive place to work and had no "cut-throat corporate" feel to it that you often hear about.

I don't really have much to fault in terms of how the placement was set up. We had good inductions and familiarization days to settle us in and had regular workshops run for us as an undergraduate cohort. There was a focus on how we were developing and feeling about the year and chances for us to get involved in things outside of work.

I would say that there is a considerable amount of resource allocated to the undergraduate program at VWFS. Workshops were organized for us and a focus on personal development was clear throughout the year. This is as well as courses I took part with my team that were specific to my role.

VWFS is an appealing company to work and an organization that seems to value its staff however it has seemed quite unclear how to secure a future role within the company after a years placement. The graduate scheme is not stand out amount others in the industry and we have not been given any guidance on how and if it is possible to look towards securing a future job with the company.

Yes! We had an excellent year in terms of the social side of things. Most weekends we would get together and go out and do things together. About half of us moved to Milton Keynes so we had a few shared houses and all of us got on really well and spent a lot of time together. Being close to London was good as we were able to go through and have some day trips there.

My cost of rent and bills was around £380 p/m which is cheap for Milton Keynes. Socializing was a little more expensive than I have been used to, particularly if we visited London however I never felt I was not able to get involved due to money. I was not able to save as much as I would've liked but I never felt that I struggled for money at any point.

Milton Keynes is not renowned for its nightlife and it is clear why. We exhausted our options within a month or so which did provide okay nights out but nothing amazing. There is only one "real" club and some average bars. With London being 40 minutes away on the train we ventured to the capital find a better nightlife scene a few times.

I played on the work football team who trained on tuesdays every week and had some 11 a side games throughout the summer. There were also various charity events to get involved in and classes in the health and wellbeing center that were run such as HIIT classes and yoga.