Programme Buyer Review

My placement at Jaguar Land Rover was for three months in Summer 2015. Overall it was definitely an enjoyable experience - put aside the fact that most of your friends will likely be travelling the world over summer then you can start to realise you have a good job in a good company and that in itself is enjoyable!

One of my main concerns before starting my placement at JLR was fitting in/my own competency. I was fretting over being dumped with a load of work that I had no idea what to do with it and then being grilled by my colleagues when I failed. This isn't the case and I haven't heard of anyone being put in that situation. Everybody around me actually assumed I was a new employee not a placement student, and there was respect and equality across the team which was reassuring. Also the company arranged frequent team outings (including nights out!) and building exercises which added to the cohesion and sense of value across the team.

I had direct access and frequent contact with a range of managers. Even though I was moved around in terms of my manager at first (due to frequent changes to program commitments) - even my initial manager who was no longer technically required to supervise me, was always on hand to help. In fact almost everybody senior I met always concluded meetings by offering their help further if required. The most helpful of all was my partner who worked alongside me everyday to ensure we met my project deliverables.

This did tend to vary. Usually a 3 month placement student is assigned 1 or 2 projects to complete within your time here, which is great because you personally have something to show for it come the end of your time here. However sometimes you can be on top of your work and find yourself with very little to do, this is mainly the case because everyone is so busy trying to cope with our massive expansion that to train a placement student to do multiple tasks isn't of a priority. I was definitely busy overall and I'm sure if it was a real issue, management would take action to give you more work where necessary.

I was extremely happy with the responsibilities I was given by my team at JLR, they were the perfect balance of challenging and achievable. Once you have spent the first few weeks adjusting to your surroundings and learning the many acronyms in the companies dictionary, you are expected to start getting on with things yourself. There are always people to help and guide you should you need it, but the assumption is made that if you do not raise any issues or queries, then you should and will get on with your work independently. This including setting up and chairing your own meetings, presenting to colleagues and management and reporting out weekly your targets, work to be done and any help required. Your are treated, and rightly so, like a competent full time worker.

This is without doubt the biggest benefit of all when doing a placement. The demanding and fast-paced nature of the corporate world, genuinely cannot set you up any better for going in to your final year focused and determined. Regardless of the job specific skills you gain (of which there are many: excel spreadsheets; presenting; negotiating; project management etc...) its is the more general alteration of your attitude that I found so important. Within my first 2 weeks I went from having no idea where my life was going, to knowing exactly what I wanted and exactly how I was going to get it. Your new and improved body clock is amazing - I know wake up at 6:00am every day without an alarm! Imagine how much longer the days are and how much more productive you can be with your longer days. The time-management, the organisation and the flexibility, the list goes on. It is genuinely the most useful learning experience I've ever encountered.

My manager and senior manager were always bright and cheerful. The team responded to that and the atmosphere was always focused but jolly.

Despite a change over in my manager, this happened without problem. The initial induction day over in heritage motor centre was amazing and I always had a clear direction throughout my placement, something my managers were very keen on encouraging.

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't receive expansive training but did have a lot of training specific to my role, there were several out-of-office purchasing inductions and plenty of help and support from management.

JLR are very open about the fact that if you perform well during your placement/internship that they would like to invite you back full-time once completing your studies. This is extremely reassuring and motivates you during your placement because who can turn down a £33k starting salary straight off the back of graduating!?

On both parts - fellow placement student and existing JLR colleagues, I have made great friends and spent many an evening socialising with them all.

Most people I knew lived at Liberty Living - Liberty Point in Coventry City. The accommodation is extremely cheap and the area is hardly expensive.

Average. Coventry has one club in the grand scheme of things - Kasbah. My preferred nightlife location was Leamington Spa which is only a 10 minute train journey from Coventry. Duke Terrace and Smack are the two places to be in Leamington.

The employee learning scheme is amazing - I went skydiving, offroading in a defender, drove the E-type jag round the track and went skydiving. Awesome!!