Finance support administrator/coordinator Review

The great thing about this particular role is that you are able to gain experience in a number of different fields across an in house finance team, so depending on which team you are working within, your day varies. I started my placement journey working within the 'Cash & Bank' team (Financial admin) - this was a great introduction into the working world of finance as it allowed me to understand the basics of money management and treatment within an orginisation, something I was yet to experience. This team essentially consisted of daily tasks which you completed on a regular basis, including; Daily & Weekly Cash Forecasting, Online Banking Reports & Bank Reconciliations. However, there were also tasks which came to you on a less frequent basis, such as; Banking and allocation of cheques, Employee Expense Maintenance, Raising of bank & cheque payments & Month end activities. All in all, I gained a wide range of experience in this team and it supported me in building the foundations of my industrial finance knowledge. I then spent the remainder of my placement within the Management Accounts team (R2R) - the nature of this work differs to the cash and bank team as you are picking up work on a much more Adhoc basis through projects and supporting people across the business in a variety of areas. There are also some more regularly completed tasks within this team such as; Accruals & journal postings, Balance sheet reconciliations/investigations & Understanding statutory accounts. With this, more Adhoc tasks such as; Working closely with business areas to help achieve/improve results, Adhoc work as required by Chief Accountants, and achieving necessary deadlines. Month end activities hold the highest of importance within this role as they are used for reporting purposes across the business. In summary, my time in this team exposed me to another branch of the department and really contributed to the overall experience as this role was much more directly attributable to my studies. As I have not yet completed my placement - I am still in the process of gaining experience and understanding into the Credit control and Taxation teams.

I would like to say the most important skillset I have gained will be my gain/improvement in soft skills such as; working within a team & networking. I hold this as one of the areas I have most improved in during my time on placement as I had never had the opportunity to work and network within a finance team before and now having the ability to do that with confidence is something I regard highly following my placement. With this of course I have been able to improve many skills which are favorable when working within a finance function, such as; analytical skills and problem solving, orginisation and time management and most importantly an improvement in my attention to detail. I would also like to mention that I had been commuting for this particular role, by gaining experience in working slightly further afield I have gained confidence that I can do it and it has certainly opened me up to the prospect of doing something similar in the future. Additionally I had the opportunity to work remotely, this has also allowed me to see how this best works for me and has proven to me that I can do it competently.

Within each role you experience you will be given individual responsibility and deadlines to abide by. With this comes increased motivation as you are not participating in tasks which anyone can do, you are exposed to tasks which have a requirement to be completed in a specific format and contain strict deadlines.

I would say that the guidance I received during the first part of my placement was second to none. The support I received in settling in to a new orginisation and working within a role which was completely new to me was great and it really allowed me to hit the ground running. I would however like to mention that I believed this close support did slightly drop off as I spent more time within the role, as it naturally would. I really think it is important both as interns and those who manage/work with you to have consistent and meaningful communication to ensure you remain motivated.

The culture at Volvo Group UK was great and was something I noticed right from the beginning of my time there and even during my own application process. Everybody is so kind and inclusive and you really are made to feel like part of the team from day dot. The company also allow you access to a wide range of benefits and they also really do pride themselves on the culture they adopt within their orginisation - making it a really enjoyable and meaningful place to go on placement.

Please see answers to previous questions as this is mainly covered throughout.

Yes

Make sure to be yourself - as much of a clique that statement is, it really is the most important thing. When applying, if you can show how you would benefit the team through your employment, along with showing passion and interest into the role you are applying for, the application process will be most likely end up in success. However, the role is in high demand due to the range of experience gained so don't be disheartened if you miss out, the application process alone is a great experience and something you will learn from despite the outcome.