European Procurement and Financial Support Review

Xerox allows their placement students to really get involved and learn what it is like to work in a real business. You can see how what is learnt as university is used in the business environment.

The team were really friendly and approachable through the duration of my placement, they have been able to give support when it was needed as well as let me work alone which enabled me to grow.

I had a 1:1 every six weeks as well as tutor visits and if there was something that had to be discussed or an issue of some sort it was never a problem to talk about it to either my manager or another member of the team.

There were times when I found the work load to be difficult but this just mean that I learnt better time management, there were also times when I would find that I would be a little quiet but this just meant that I could ask others if there were tasks that I could help them with which allowed me to get involved with other projects.

My role had quite a bit of responsibility with it as I was the only one producing the reports that were sent out and was not there to do someone else’s work when they did not want to, which showed me that I was able to do my own thing without having someone there to hold my hand and look after me. I found that as my placement went on I was given more and more to do which again showed me that I was given responsibility.

You learn things on placement that you can not learn at university, even if the only thing that you learn is that the job you done on placement isn't for you. I learnt about Purchasing which is something that is not covered throughout your university life. Having done this during my placement has shown me that there is more to be learnt that what you learn at university.

There were times when it could be quiet and times when it was very lively, but then it is an office and people are working therefore it is a normal office environment.

Xerox have been doing placements for years which means that they have a very good process.

There is only so much that a company can do for you in a year however Xerox do offer a yellow belt level in Lean Six Sigma training which does teach you a lot about the business way of thinking which can also be applied to your university work.

With the current economic climate there are at the moment no graduate opportunities with the company however they do hope that within the next 1-2 years that there will be.

Students were always doing nights out or charity events which meant that you got to know the other students well, there is also a boat party at the start of each year so that the new students can get to know one another and the old students get to say bye to each other.

Cost of living is higher in the capital so for those coming from out of the city it will probably be a shock but I found it fine.

There wasn't too much in Uxbridge but central London was only a tube away!

There is something for everyone wherever you go. It just depends where you look!