Finance Placement Student Review

I enjoyed my work placement. At the beginning I did not enjoy it as much as I did not understand the role too well but after a few months of learning the in and outs it became second nature.

I felt valued by my colleagues as they made me feel like a regular employee regardless of my status as a placement student.

In the first few months, I was not given much guidance by my manager but I sort any help/advice from my team collegue . After a restructure in the business, I obtained a new manager and was given alot of support and guidance whether it was through regular one-to-one meetings about my role & responsibilities or career advice.

I was alway kept busy and was never bored as I had day specific tasks , reports, metrics to complete on a weekly basis . During month-end I was very busy due to strict deadlines for posting monthly journals and would sometimes put in additional hours to ensure my work was completed within the given time frame.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement. My job role was vital to the company especially as some of the metrics I generated were used for Corporate reporting. It was not a project based role but a real role which had important deadines.

I think the work-based skills will be transferable to my future career. In terms of my placement, it will be useful to my studies as I have noticed most of the theories I am learning in my final year , I can relate to my coursework or draw examples to discussions so I will have an advantage in my studies.

The atomsphere was good and relaxed at times. Everyone was friendly and worked together as a team.

It was organised quite well. When I got there we had training to get familiar with the company and then when I was placed in the finance department I was paired up with the current placement student who taught me the role for a month.

Caterpillar offered a lot of useful training throughout the year such as web based learning courses, strengths finder asessment and lunchtime presentations by employees in various business areas.; which assisted in development of my yourself and gave a beter insight into the company

Caterpillar are a good company to work for and offer opportunities to work your way up in the company.

There was a social committee in our finance department that regularly arranged monthly events eg. christmas meals , bowling, mini golf etc Also, within our immediate team we had lunch team meals on occasions.

The cost of living was relatively cheap in comparision to London.

In comparision to Sheffield or other cities it was not the best for Nightlife but it was okay.

There were always events throughout the year to get involved outside of work