IT Review

My time at Vauxhall was enjoyable but the lack of group work in my role was one of the main reasons why I did not enjoy it as much as I would have liked. The placement scheme as a whole is well organised with many other undergrads working in the company.

I felt valued by my colleagues with weekly reviews and quarterly meetings to discuss progress and achievements.

I was supported by my manager but the lack of face to face time could prove difficult to someone who is not willing to pick up the phone.

I was busy on a day to day basis but workload varied depending new initiatives and projects.

I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement and was left to use my own initiative a lot of the time. This is a good thing as it helped me develop as a person and also helped to improve my confidence.

The general office environment at Vauxhall has helped me develop many skills which will prove beneficial in my degree studies and future jobs. Skills such as time management, organisational skills and prioritising workload have all been improved at Vauxhall. My role was a global role which required a lot of communication therefore, my email and telephone skills have improved.

The atmosphere in the office was good, the office was fairly quiet which helped to concentrate on work but it lacked a social side.

The placement scheme on the whole was well organised with over 80 undergraduates to interactive with. The first two weeks were used as a handover from the current undergrad doing your role. After these two weeks you should feel comfortable enough doing your role. The undergraduate before should have also left handover documents which you can use as a guide.

When you start work you receive training for the basic office applications such as excel. You also receive presentation training to help you improve presenting, which could be useful depending on your role.

A limited number of graduates are taken on each year but graduates can be taken on several years after their placement year.

The social aspect of the placement scheme is very good this is partly due to the number of undergraduates on placement at the company but there are a few social events throughout the year.

Lived at home so cost of living was cheap, according to friends rent and cost of living was fairly cheap.

The nightlife was not great but Luton has good train links into London so that is always an option.

Again because of the amount of undergraduates on the placement scheme it is easy to get involved in activities outside of work. The company also does events outside of work if you want to attend them.