Business Support Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Lubrizol. I was nervous at first, however I was quickly treated in the same way people who had been there for 20 years were. In general I recieved good, interesting tasks. The company provides a good range of perks to every employee, which made the expierience even more enjoyable.

Everyone who works at Lubrizol seems to be welcoming, even if you have no idea who they are. The culture in my department was welcoming and friendly and everyone was willing to offer advice if you needed any help.

I had two supervisors as my role covered two areas of a department. Both offered great support throughout my year in industry, and were always willing to lend me their time. It was nice that even if they were not available I was able to speak to other managers which were all equally as supportive.

The placement gave me a large range of tasks to complete meaning I was never bored. My working week was made up of a combination of larger projects which had deadlines of several weeks & smaller day to day tasks which added some diversity and meant each day was different.

For a placement student I believe I was given a large amount of responsibility. I was given the opportunity to create content which would be shared with customers across Europe, which was both interesting and a big responsibility. I was always able to do independant research on topics I thought would be useful to the team, and the chance to present to a range of different people, at different levels of the organisation showed a high level of trust.

My year at Lubrizol has given me the opportunity to apply everything I have learnt at University in the real world & also develp myself as a person. It is a good opportunity to be able to link marketing theory to practice in the workplace. Aside from developing and applying academic information I also developed a range of other skills. Regular use of excel, powerpoint and word means I am now adept and all can easily be used at university and after. The chance to create and present regularly has develped my presentation and communication skills no end. This skill will be extremely useful for University and work in the future. Aside from confidence and communication, I have develped a range of other skills such as data handling, organisational skills and research (both primary and secondary).

The atmosphere in the office was always work focused. However everyone was upbeat, and the coffee machine was always available for a laugh.

After the interview stage we quickly found out details about a welcome day, which gave the opportunity ot meet other students. After that we had out start day confirmed and from day one I have been clear on my job role and expectations. The placement was well organised overall.

Whilst I did not recieve any formal training, I was given a huge amount of time by people throughout the organisation. Lubrizol is a chemical company, and as I do not have a chemistry background it was good to be able to have people willing to invest their time into explaining and teaching me.

I have been told if suitable jobs come up placement students have an advantage. This includes opportunities in Ohio.

HR organised us to live in student halls together so we regulary had parties or events. There is a good number of students and we all get on well.

Derby has some good pubs, which are reasonably priced. I would say in general it is not to bad.

Derby has some good pubs and bars, not many clubs.

The sports and social club hold weekly events such as volleyball, climbing and badminton. They also hold a big eventor trip every few weeks, trips to london, walking in Scotland, GoKarting.