Commercial Sales Review

I had a fantastic placement and thoroughly enjoyed my time at Faurecia. Faurecia gave me a great understanding of the automotive industry and exactly what a commercial sales role consists of. There are always moments in any job when you aren’t enjoying it, however my placement with Faurecia the positives definitely outweighed the negatives.

All my colleagues made me feel extremely welcome to the business and were happy to assist me whenever I needed. This was especially important when I was traveling to different countries. I was more expecting to be treated like an intern, but this wasn’t the case I was treated like a normal employee.

My manager had a great balance of support which definitely suited the way I worked. They weren’t consistently looking over my shoulder and allowed me to get on with the work that I had been assigned. However, I knew that if I ever had any blockings I could always go to them for their support.

I was very busy whilst working for Faurecia, my manager really threw me in the deep end from the start. This exactly what I wanted as I find it easier to learn whilst doing. However, my manager did constantly check that my work load wasn’t too much for me, and supported through it all.

I thought before my placement that responsibility is earned when you are working, however this wasn’t the case. I was given a lot of responsibility from day 1, never more than I could handle. I was treated and valued like a normal employee; this gave me a real opportunity to prove myself to the company.

This placement has given me a real insight into what I should expect when leaving university, one of the main skills that I have developed during placement is confidence in my own ability. I have proved to myself that I am more than capable to enter the world of work once I have completed my degree.

I was in a small office of only 10 and for the majority of the time less that because of the amount of travel the team did. However the atmosphere was really good, as a team we tried to get out on Friday for a Pub lunch and occasionally socialise after work.

The placement was very well organised with the company fully supporting and paying for my relocation to Brentwood. My first week was a much organised introduction to the company with all my equipment being set up for when I arrived. This showed me how valued I was to the company and reinsured from the start that I was more than just an intern.

Within my first three months the company organised all my internal training for all the systems that I would be require to use. They also paid for me to go on an advanced excel training course as excel was a major tool I would need to use for the majority of my placement. I was also able to go on any extra training programs that I needed as my role progressed throughout my year.

Very appealing, I will most certainly be staying in contact with the organisation. I would more than happily come back and work for Faurecia. Before I left Faurecia, they assured me that the feeling was mutual and they wanted me back. I am now in talks with HR and my manager with the exact role they would like me to come back and do.

Unfortunately I was the only placement student in the Brentwood office. Nevertheless this didn’t hinder the social side of the office. As a commercial role we had to entertain the customer on a by monthly occurrence. I was invited to nearly all of the customer events which were always very relaxed and good fun.

As Brentwood is very close to London, the cost of living and socialising was very expensive, especially after spend two years living in Newcastle.

The nightlife was very good, I was able to wonder into the famous sugar hut and get a selfie. London’s night was even better and with it being only a 30 minute train journey away it was easily accessible.

There were numerous sports teams in the area, my colleagues used to play rugby, and I played field hockey for another local team.