Finance Placement Student Review

My role focused mostly on headcount as my team was moving from a manual Excel process to a faster Power BI process. I also helped with month end and quarterly financial tasks such as Journals and Balance Sheet Reconciliations. Later in my placement I became a Subject Matter Expert in the Inventory Cycle which resulted in preparing SLOB and Inventory Reporting as well as doing some Sales and COGS calculations. Having all of these responsibilities meant that each day was different.

I gained so many skills whilst being on placement such as systems skills which includes Excel, Power BI, SAP, Alteryx, Tableau and TM1. I also gained teamwork resilience skills. Being on placement allowed me to grow in confidence and as a result I attended more networking events which was a skill I have been developing over time. I was also given the opportunity to lead some tasks and events which allowed me to develop my leadership skills.

I was given quite a lot of responsibility in my placement, especially near the end of my placement when I covered a team members role whilst they were on maternity leave. Throughout my whole placement I had responsibilities as the tasks I was completed helped the team work towards the planning cycle deadlines.

I got so much support and guidance whilst on my placement from my team, my manager and the placement coordinator. The team created a supportive environment where I felt I could ask them any questions. I had regular catchups with my manager to check that I was happy with the work that I was doing. As placement students we had regular catchups with the placement coordinator which was nice to talk about anything related to the placement as we were all in similar situations.

The company culture is great, Johnson and Johnson is really diverse and supports everyone's needs.

I really enjoyed my placement year. I felt appreciated with the work that I produced and never felt out of place even with fully qualified professionals. Johnson and Johnson is really flexible so I was able to work around any other commitments that I had (within reason).

Yes

Read up on the Credo as this is the backbone of Johnson and Johnson and something that they will definitely ask about in the interview. If you do manage to get a role then take the opportunity to get to know as many people as you can as they could help you later in your career even if that isn't at Johnson and Johnson.