Finance Industrial Placement Review

It was very good. The diversity of challenges and opportunities available every day was quite vast. Also the people I worked with were all very friendly, approachable and helpful. Because of the relationships I was able to build with my colleagues, it meant I could meet them outside of work and do sports or other activities.

My opinion was always valued, even by managers. The responsibility I was given as a placement student was incredible, standing in for people with years worth of experience within 6 months. As I previously mentioned, I was able to interact with my colleagues both inside and outside of work.

At any time if I had a question, no matter if it sounded a bit stupid, they would answer my question. Sometimes I asked the same question multiple times because whilst I had understood part of what they said, something else didn't make sense, so they could change the their answer to better explain. I very rarely felt like I was being patronized.

It varied greatly, sometimes it was very busy and I would have to work a few hours of overtime, other days it was so quiet I was asking for extra work. I had to bear in mind that because of my lack of experience, I couldn't always be given a task. Just because I wasn't busy didn't mean my colleagues weren't either, so sometimes I just had to wait a bit longer for a task during a quiet period.

Loads. I was given the responsibility of working for two entities of Nissan, one of which I controlled most of the financial operations for. I was also able to control millions with very little input from my managers after I had proven myself in the first few months.

Just by being in the workplace and having to get things done my mentality has changed when it comes to doing work. I am far more organized than I was and tend to work towards deadlines much more efficiently. I also have more social skills and am much more confident than I used to be. This is all because I had to be and its something which I don't feel I will ever lose.

Very good, the people were friendly and most of the time you could have a laugh with your colleagues no matter the situation. However there was also times when things had gone wrong and it could develop a bit of a blame culture. However overall this was very rare and most days were easily bearable, if not fun.

Initially, in my opinion, not that well. I was given a shoddy handover from the previous placement student and then didn't always have a reasonable explanation of the task in hand. This changed slowly because I ended up with so many questions that explaining it in the way they did meant they wasted more time later on answering questions. The work I was given to do initially was not a great amount and not very specific, more adhoc tasks. However later on, once I had more experience, I was given routine monthly tasks and basically was able to manage my own time. For anyone else who works here, this will vary depending on who your seniors/managers are and the department - I have spoken to other placements.

Formal training is available through HR, however my managers were very willing to go through things with me. Even basics like excel.

Depends on what is happening and the positions available. I would like to come back to work for Nissan but they may not have the requirement one year from now.

There were at least 40 placement students. There were arranged nights out and social events, but I was also able to go to some of the sports and social club activities and meet new people there too (including some of the other students).

Cost of living was pretty standard, the rents consume quite a bit of your paycheck but are what you'd expect to pay for student housing at university (so reasonable). Socialising could be expensive if doing lots of sports, but in moderation was not too bad.

The variety of clubs, bars and activities on offer in Milton Keynes is quite good. I lived in Bedford, there is much less to do there and the area is more run down, but its a bit cheaper.

I was able to socialize with colleagues inside and outside of work. The sports and social club allows any type of sport or activity to be set up provided there is enough interest. If you are willing to get involved, the activities available are endless and all for only a few pounds per month. Also the gym only costs a few pounds per month compared to commercial gyms.