Production & Promotion Co-ordinator Review

I enjoyed my placement at Renault Trucks (Volvo Group), as I was able to learn new skills and develop existing skills. I also had the opportunity to experience new things, such as driving a truck and attending an annual conference, as well as being a high level of responsibility . Further, I was able to learn about a new industry as well as other companies under the Volvo Group, which I knew very little about before.

At no point did I feel like an intern, as I was always felt like an official employee. From the first day, the team all introduced themselves to me and made me welcome, making sure that I knew that if I had any problems I could always go to them for help. As well as this, when attending meetings or having discussions with colleagues, I was valued for my feedback, thoughts and responses, regardless of it being correct or wrong.

I would have a meeting with my manager every quarter where I was able to reflect on what I had done and if I had any problems, but also establishing new tasks and responsbilties for my next 3 months. As well as this, I sat next to my manager so if I did have any problems, I could easily ask him if I had any problems. Even after my manager left in January, I still had the support.

On a daily basis, I was very busy which was good for me as I did not want to waste my placement year. On a daily basis, I would be in contact with the wider network dealership, creating prices for parts and also making adjustment to orders. I was also responsible for sorting through claims sent by dealers, which I need to process and pay out by the end of the month. Apart from this, I was also working on some marketing projects.

I was given a lot of responsibility throughout my placement, especially for the pricing of parts as only me and manager knew how to do this. Especially, when he left in January, before my colleague was trained on this, I was responsible for this. Further, I was tasked with creating a marketing campaign alongside another intern which was used by dealers in their local area. I was allowed to be creative in this task, where we would regularly show our managers our work.

Throughout my placement, I was able to carry on developing my teamwork skills as I would with closely with other allowing me to build strong connections. This is important for any job. As well as this, speaking to the wider dealer network on a daily basis meant I was built upon my communication skills and also improve customer service skills. I also completed some Microsoft office training, which I it important and needed by companies.

The atmosphere in the office was very friendly and everyone generally got along. For the majority of times, everyone was useful and always happy to help. Whilst I had a lot of responsibility and always tended to be busy, I was not over-worked by manager or colleagues, and they made sure that we all took enough rest. Upon working from home, due to covid, we always had a daily meeting in the morning and a weekly meeting with other teams aswell.

The HR intern in the previous year had worked on a induction week which provided us with an overview of the Volvo Group, the subsidiary groups under Volvo Group and also the induction week allowed the interns to get to know one another better. However, apart from this, there was little communication from the HR and also some confusion with my monthly pay. Overall, as the placement continued the level of communication from HR decreased.

I completed training on a Microsoft Excel course which the firm provided. As well as this, I was allowed to download different software packages which I trained my self on and consequently was able to train my colleagues and have other colleagues teach me. This mainly included Adobe and Photoshop software. Finally, there was opportunity for me to develop myself and asses my skills through regular feedback from my manager and also reflection from other senior figures.

Warwick is generally very quiet, so there is a limited social scene for placement students / colleagues. However, Warwick is close to Leamington Spa, coventry and Birmingham which all have a good social scene. There were placement student night out. Within my team, there was not much social activity within the team due to many having their own family. As I knew friends and families close by, I could always meet up with people whenever I needed to.

Expensive to rent in Warwick and not much areas to socialise in specifically Warwick.