HR Assistant Review

by Vauxhall

This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.

Rating

4.3/5
  • The Role
    4.6
  • The Company
    3.9
  • The Culture
    4.4

    The Role

  • 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
  • Overall, my placement has been an absolutely fantastic experience. Every aspect of it has been valuable. Working within a professional environment has allowed me to develop many different skills, with the diverse nature of my role helping me to gain an in depth understanding of a global businesses operations. This experience was very influential in my choice of final year modules, which should then allow me to build upon my knowledge further.

    5/5

  • 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
  • On entering the business I felt valued by my colleagues. They have a huge wealth of knowledge and experience to benefit from and are always happy, when time permits, to offer assistance with tasks. As the placement scheme is long established they were well accustomed to working alongside Undergraduates, always offering help and support whilst providing us with justification for different tasks. My line manager in particular made me feel very welcomed and valued throughout my placement and was willing to offer guidance and support throughout, along with being a great person to work alongside. Working within a diverse and robust team has helped me develop my interpersonal skills, in particular when completing projects with apprentices and fellow undergraduates. These tasks have allowed me to be exposed to areas I never anticipated within my role, such as negotiating the price of products. As my knowledge of the business has grown I have been entrusted with increasingly important projects and I’ve felt as though I’ve made a real difference to the business. All in all, the working environment is great and I am very proud to have contributed to the department.

    5/5

  • 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
  • Vauxhall offers a mentoring programme to all Undergraduates, with long-serving members of the business so if any issues were to arise then they were there for discussion. As I work very closed with my line manager I received direct support and guidance on a daily basis. They have provided me with great feedback through the year and thanks to this I have seen huge strides in my skill set. Alongside this, the organisation holds appraisal style reviews every four months, to establish expectations and report on how you’re meeting these. This is a great opportunity to act upon feedback and demonstrate an attitude of continued improvement. As I work alongside many different people within my role, they are always happy to offer feedback on performance and explain justification for this. Through this, I have gained increased confidence and developed a strong working knowledge of different areas of the business.

    5/5

  • 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
  • I was busy on a day to day basis, working with different members of my team to complete tasks. This has made me very efficient at completing work to tight deadlines and has taught me to manage my time effectively. The balance of monthly responsibilities, such as the employee suggestion scheme, managing and updating the intranet site and headcount reporting, alongside the many Ad hoc tasks I have been assigned has been challenging but extremely rewarding.

    5/5

  • 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
  • From the beginning of my placement I was assigned very responsible tasks, which were used on an international scale. To begin with, this was quite daunting but thanks to the support of my team I quickly grew in confidence. Over time, I was assigned other more difficult tasks and projects which have included working with confidential information, liaising with senior leadership and working independently and in groups on many different projects. Vauxhall make a point of saying that the industrial placements are real jobs with real responsibilities and that’s definitely the case. This entire experience was very rewarding and has allowed me to gain a huge range of transferable skills to aid my employment prospects in the future.

    5/5

  • 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
  • Involvement in this placement scheme has seen a drastic improvement in a great many of my skills. This includes my soft skills such as communication, time management, professionalism, conflict resolution etc. Vauxhall also offer many different training courses, such as Presentation Skills and Excel Training alongside department specific training, such as Interview Skills. The knowledge from these courses will directly assist in my final year of degree studies. A great deal of E-Learning facilities are also available, which were a great source of information when time permitted. Thanks to my line manager, I’ve also been involved with a great many web courses which I have found very eye opening. This is without including all the on the job training received over my placement. I would have appreciated the opportunity to take part in an Advanced Excel Training courses to expand that skill further – however working with the software on a daily basis has meant my competency with it has improved heavily.

    5/5

    The Company

  • 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
  • The atmosphere naturally changed depending on different workloads, at times of high demand people were focusing on completing their tasks and in more relaxed times, such as Christmas Eve, there was a more fun atmosphere. Throughout all these times everyone in the department was approachable and considerate and there really is a focus on the function moving in the same direction. Working alongside the apprentices and other undergraduates was very rewarding, we were assigned several projects throughout the year and worked well as a team. The success of these tasks relied solely upon us which was a great motivator to complete to a high standard. As a result of these I feel we’ve all grown very close as a team and I learned a great deal about working alongside piers to meet tight deadlines. Overall, the working environment was fantastic and many members of staff I’d now consider friends rather than colleagues.

    5/5

  • 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
  • The long standing placement scheme has meant that the Undergraduate program is well run and managed. Before our first open day we were all invited to a Facebook group, where we could interact with one another. The two week handover period allowed the placement students to get to know one another well, the activities for this included: site tours, presentations from Directors, social and working events. Following on from this period, there were events to feedback on the working environments through Undergraduate Feedback Sessions and Mentor meetings. The only area of improvement I would identify would be the scheduling of the Bigger Picture event. This is an annual event where the undergraduates from each department inform one another of what happens in each department. I feel this should take place earlier in the Undergraduate year, allowing more time for them to benefit from what they’ve learned.

    4/5

  • 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
  • There was a great emphasis on personal training and development within Vauxhall. All undergraduates took part in Excel training, Presentation skills training and Safe Driving Workshops. There was also the availability of E-learning facilities, the opportunity to shadow different departments and Graduate application employability workshops. In terms of role specific training, which was very beneficial. Through this, I was lucky enough to take part in not only interview skills training but also a variety of BCP courses. These were all very interesting and worthwhile, and I left genuinely feeling as though I’d learned a great deal from taking part. I’ve taken the organisations continuous improvement ethos to heart, learning to critically analyse the work of myself and others taking the initiative where necessary to improve upon this. This key learning will be very beneficial in my final year of universities study and in later life.

    5/5

  • 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
  • Flexi Time

    Subsidised Canteen

    Subsidised/Company Gym

    National Travel

    Staff Sales/Staff Shop

    Working from home

    4/5

  • 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
  • As the graduate scheme is very small the future employment prospects aren’t as large as with other organisations. However, the placement is often known as a yearlong interview and for those lucky enough to be taken on as a graduate the scheme is very competitive, with a large emphasis put on the development of that individual.

    3/5

    The Culture

  • 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
  • With 75 undergraduates and the apprentices there’s a very lively community. There is also a wide variety of social events on offer, from theatre trips to nights out as well as corporate events.

    5/5

  • 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
  • I’ve lived near the area all my life so I’m very familiar with it. Luton is low cost to live in and there’s great transport links available if anyone would rather live in one of the surrounding towns/villages. There’s a good range of shops in the town and with London a half hour away on the train you’re never far from anything.

    5/5

  • 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
  • The area has a good nightlight scene. Further afield, there’s Harpenden and St Albans which is a bit more expensive but has a calmer atmosphere with great pubs and clubs. London, Milton Keynes and Watford are all also close by.

    4/5

  • 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
  • There’s the opportunity to get involved with lots of different activities. I took part in a Charity Sleep Out with other members of the organisation where we helped to raise over £1500 for a local charity. Others have got involved with the London to Paris bike ride or a kayaking event around the UK. There’s also theatre trips available and sports clubs.

    5/5

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Details

Placement (10 Months+)

South East

May 2014


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