Quality and Food Safety Review

I enjoyed my experience with Mars and got a great insight into site R&D and what it is to work at a supply site. Despite this, I realised quite soon into my placement that a quality and food safety role wasn't for me and I did not feel as much energy for it as a product developmental role. The great thing about the placement was the freedom I had to organise a 'mini-placement' within the Mars Chocolate sector in Slough to find out more about the R&D roles there that were unfortunately not in King's Lynn.

As my team was actually two members down I felt I played a vital role within the team with genuine responsibility as opposed to completing unnecessary tasks to fulfil my placement. On the other hand, at times I felt that the 'placement student' label led some associates who I had not previously worked with to be sceptical about my ability

As my initial line manager left quite soon into my placement with no replacement being found throughout the rest of my time at Mars a member of my team with no previous line manager experience had to step in as my manager/assessor for the purpose of my placement. As a result I felt we were both learning what was expected of us as we went along. This is something I flagged as an area for improvement for the next placement student as it meant that I did not have a proper PDP in place until half way through my placement etc.

I was busy on a day to day basis with my on going projects, day to day tasks and ad hoc tasks set for me as and when

I was given a lot of responsibility from the beginning

I attended various training courses throughout my time which will be great for the future including a level 2 in HACCP, project management and an award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector. I also learnt and improved many functional skills that will assist me in my studies.

There was a happy atmosphere, everyone was very welcoming. Always said 'Hello' as you walked past. Everyone was accommodating to any questions you may have and more than happy to help

Unfortunately with my change of manager it did not run all that smoothly as there was no hand over between the two. However we did the best we could and great improvements have been made for the next student

I attended several training days that the company invested in however I was pretty much left to work on my personal development myself

Due to the fact that King's Lynn only has site R&D and my passion lies within product development I would not return to the role however I am going to apply for the RDP graduate scheme role within the chocolate and pet are sectors

I was the only placement student and the youngest in the office however I did socialise with a few members of my team

Accomodation is very cheap in the area and I lived only a few minutes drive from the site therefore I did not have to spend a lot on commuting. Socialising was also cheap due to the location

It was what you would expect from a town and there was enough to get you through the year

There were opportunities to join gyms and sports clubs. I did not look to join anything else