Audi marketing executive Review

The placement was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. I got to see various aspects of the automotive industry from attending brand conferences to working within a local sales centre and at each stage was welcomed and encouraged to thrive.

I didn't feel like a placement student. I was given opportunities to present, challenge the status quo and develop my own ideas and projects. This was mainly down to the support of my team around me who encouraged me with new opportunities and an ever increasing yet manageable workload.

Both my line manager and department manager gave me my own projects to manage at a very early stage. This gave me a huge amount of responsibility that at first could seem daunting were it not for the training offered and the personal development plans set with my mangers. There was a wealth of experience in the management team and I feel I have learnt more as much from them in one year as I have throughout my time at university.

I had to manage various projects at any one time which meant I had to quickly develop my time management skills. My roll in national communications meant I was constantly out of office attending meetings or visiting new media sites so balancing this with my day to day operations did make for a busy year. The hard work was balanced with rewards as a department and as a whole brand which meant although the hours could be long, the socials were worth all the effort.

I was given responsibility far beyond what I expected for a placement student. I managed my own budgets on my own projects totalling around £2.4m and produced creative for campaigns that have appeared on poster sites, radio and in national press. The biggest responsibility for me came at the end of the year when I project managed a team of 15 people to deliver an event showcasing 50 cars at Chelsea FC.

I feel the skills from my placement have given me a greater understanding of the theories I have learnt at university. Rather than just understanding the academic sides of marketing I can now apply the theory to relevant business scenarios, a skill that could ultimately make a huge difference to my final grade come June.

The open office I worked in meant there was a hard working yet jovial atmosphere. The office was designed in such a way that all employees were accessible. This gave me chance to converse with senior managers, right the way up to the director!

From the induction programme at the start through to the review of my year at the end the placement was organised well throughout with various reviews of training and my personal development undertaken throughout the year.

I attended around 6 training days throughout the year and was given access to sit in on management meetings and creative meetings. I felt I was invested in heavily throughout the year to a level that matched any of my colleagues.

I have been encouraged to speak with the organisation upon graduation and discuss my plans with my managers from this hear. A recently developed graduate scheme offers another good route back to the organisation should I choose to pursue work in the automotive industry.

There was a total of 26 placement students on the scheme and I lived with 6 other undergraduates. It felt like university with money! We had a great social life and all enjoyed living together. I would say this is a huge strength of this placement. Away from students I socialised with many of my colleagues both at socials organised by the group and outside of work.

I feel that the wage we received meant that the cost of living was easily achievable. Having the opportunity to live with other students meant you could still keep the cost of amenities and food to a minimum.

There are many bars and clubs and although they can get repetitive being with a large group you can make any night a good night! London is only 35 minutes on the train so we often travelled there for the lager nights!

From football, to golf and from snowboarding to go karting there was always a lot of entertainment.