This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I have really appreciated the year at BMW. My role was within Aftersales, where they are great in making sure the students get the right amount of repsonsibilities. If you ever wanted more , they were more than willing to believe in you, and find something tht suited you.
Due to the amount of responsibility put on us, I felt valued. Most of the time i felt part of the team and my opinions and ideas were taken onboard. Sometimes we were taken for granted, given the "intern" tasks.
Quite a large extent. If I ever needed help or were confused, my managers were there to help and support.
In the beginning of the year, it was quite slow. I didn't have that much to do, however as the year went by, i constantly asked for more work to do, and by the end I were very busy.
Much, I had my own projects to manage, research about, find contacts etc.
A lot, I will be able to take this placement experience with me and be able to apply real world examples which I have been part of.
The Company
We moved to a new office in Farnborough in December 2014. The new office atmosphere is lovely. It is an open desk plan, no separate offices, and everyone is hot-desking. It has allowed us all to do more inter-departmental bonding, and to collaborate with all different business areas in the business.
The placement role is supposed to be a project based role where you should be able to get to know several areas of the business. Sometimes it felt like they use us more as specific task admin roles, which makes us less able to do these project based roles. Apart from that, it has been good. What is good to note is that my team were very good in responding to the feedback given by us students. Therefore if I would like changes in my role, it wasn't a mission impossible to get some changes.
They allowed us to go on several training. Just remember - ask and you most often got to do it. Don't ask, and nothing will happen.
Currently I am looking for a job in central London, however I think maybe in the later future I would be appealed.
The Culture
We were 21 students in total, and we had a great time together. Stayed together and had fun.
For the place it is located in, housing was not too bad. Many students decided to live in Reading where they could find cheap student accommodation, however I chose to live closer to work, and had to pay thereafter. BMW realised that the new location would mean more living expenses and the new year after us have a higher income to meet this.
Not amazing, but Reading isn't too far away, so that was where it happened mostly.
Many, we had several events going on where we participated - PGA Championship, Goodwood festival of speed, Motorcycle Live, MINI events.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
South West
July 2015