Compensation and Benefits Assistant Review

My placement was a good experience. I got to work with GM employees all over the world and got to learn a lot of new things. The work I was doing wasn't that enjoyable but I did take a lot of experience and knowledge away from the placement.

My manager left early on in my placement and I had a new one in another country who I never got to meet. I was in contact with my manager a lot (via phone or email) but the majority of the time during my placement I was sat on my own doing my own thing with little to no interaction with colleagues in the office. I got on with some of the other employees but because I didn't work with any of them directly I wasn't that familiar with them.

My manager was working in another country (with a 5 hour time difference) and I didn't get a lot of contact time with her, I did get some support when I asked to set up some time specifically for help. The majority of the time I just got on with things and did things by trial and error until I got it write myself.

My workload fluctuated quite a lot, I was really busy in the peak times (bonus and salary increase planning) and then other times I was doing little value adding work and a lot of administrative work.

Quite a lot since I was on my own for pretty much the whole year, I was in a small team in a specialist department so a lot of people came to me if they couldn't contact my manager. I didn't get to make any decisions but I did a lot of analysis and could put my opinion across to my manager who then could advise or decide the outcomes on business decisions.

I applied very late so I didn't get to pick a role that suited my degree well, I was given a job in an area of the business I had little to not interest in before but I have learnt quite a lot about different areas of business during my placement. I have develop skills that I can take away with me but nothing I did was that helpful directly for my degree.

The atmosphere varied throughout the year, on time were people were busy it was almost silent the whole time with little to no interaction other than serious work issues. Other times it was a little bit more laid back but I felt there was a lot of office politics and I did feel intimidated by the full time employees at times.

The placement was set up very well, the company had a lot of presentations and talks from senior level employees which were helpful to get an insight. We were taken care of well in the 2 week handover period with the existing interns that we took over from. All aspects of the placement were well organised and support was given to placement students.

I had some training, excel and powerpoint group training. Nothing too specific to my role but I did learn things from other employees that helped me over the year.

The graduate scheme is very limited so I don't think there are that many opportunities to get a graduate job. I don't see myself interested in the industry that Vauxhall operate in but if you are interested in cars then Vauxhall would be a great place to work.

There was around 80 interns in the main office so there was a lot of people around and a lot of things were going on most of the time. Particularly good during hangover periods at the start and end of the placement.

The area is not the nicest but you can go into London easily and there are some good things to do in the surrounding areas. Cost of living was quite cheap and the cost of socilaising varied depending on what your interests are but there was a lot to do if you went out and looked for it.

Nightlife isn't great in Luton, there are good places to go into more upmarket towns and then into London but Luton itself hasn't got a lot going on.

Quite limited, some football nights after work during the week but very little offered outside of work. I got involved in a charity bike ride from London to Paris but other activities weren't really offered or communicated well.