Assistant Project Manager Review

To be part of the Energy Solutions Business department within Cummins, was the best experience I could have asked for during my placement year. It gave me the opportunity to be involved with several functions of the company and therefore understand how the various functions relate and how each of them is important in their own way. Although at times it might have been a bit chaotic, it kept me busy and I did not have a day like the previous one. It was never a routine.

When I first started, I was worried I will struggle to fit in, as I was the placement student who did not have experience. I was wrong. Everybody was extremly friendly from the first day and I fitted in straight away. Although it took longer to warm up to some of my colleagues, I did in the end. I will definitely miss being part of ESB.

From the day I started and up until the end, whenever I had a question or need help on dealing with a situation, I was always comfortable to ask either my manager or one of my colleagues for help and guidance. Everyone helped me along the way and I tried to do the same in return, whenever I was able to.

Within Cummins, some days can be a bit chaotic and some days can be slow. Despite that, I felt that they were very well balanced, the slow days coming after the chaotic end of month, giving me an opportunity to catch up and work at a normal pace. However, I did enjoy the very busy day, as it kept me motivated and I was always pleased to see the results afterwards.

As I started to learn and understand how the business worked and what was expected of a project manager, I was constantly given more responsibility. While one of the project managers was out of the office for 6 weeks, I took on a lot of what they were working on and made sure everything went smoothly until they were back in the office, thus proving that I was capable to take responsibiliity for bigger tasks as well.

Business is a broad subject, but the daily task that I worked on gave me the opportunity to be involved in several aspects of the business and therefore I am confident that I am capable to work in a big organisation such as Cummins after finishing my degree. Working under pressure, organisation skills, communication skills and management skills were a requirement for my job so I belive I have developed these greatly. All the employability skills that I will require in the future, I have already started developing and I am capable of aplying them in any organisation. Working with the strategy team will certainly have an impact on my further studies, as I will be studying Strategic Management in my final year. Being part of an international organisation and constantly working with customers from all around the world will definitely help me both in my studies (International Business module) and further, when and if I will be part of an international company.

One of the things I liked best about working within Cummins is that the atmosphere in the office was great. There were no cubicles, it was an open office layout. I could freely talk to my colleagues and I was not stuck to my desk all day, just focused on my laptop. Although I could have used the internal chat on the e-mail, I usually preffered to go acroos the office or the building to talk to my colleagues. There were obviously times when there was a general silence across the office, either due to the fact that many of my colleagues were out or because we all were extremly busy, but I never felt it was a strict environment.

I had a workplan and tasks to do from the day I started and they continued to build up as I was learning and taking more responsibility within the organisation. I never felt like there was any lack of organisation. It all went smoothly.

I attended the mandatory company training for new employees, but I was also given the opportunity to attend other training courses, such as Spectrum Diversity, Excel courses, communication and I also attended a customer conference which gave me the opportunity to understand more about the technological side of Cummins. However, most of my training was in the office, provided by my manager and my colleagues, on all aspects of being a project manager.

There are plenty of graduate opportunities after I finish university and I certainly intend to apply as I would love to work here again!

Although my work rarely involved working with my fellow placement students, we kept in touch, discussing the aspects of our jobs and of how our life within Cummins developed. I consider that the social seen amongst all of us was great.

As my placement was just 15 miles away from Canterbury, where I was living as I was at Kent Uni, I did not have to move and therefore enjoyed the benefits of continuing to live with my friends from previous years and being part of a student city. However, Canterbury is not the cheapest town to live in. Despite that, the company provided help with accomodation closer to the plant which were far cheaper than where I was living. The opportunity was there, but I preffered not to move.

Student town, 3 universities, great nightlife! Great venues and lots of places to go out.

Cummins Power Generation in Kent offered plenty of opportunities for activities outside work. The sports and social club, besides offering discounts to several local gyms and recreational areas, organised events, about 3 a month such as Leeds Castle Fireworks and Musical Events, trips to London to the theatre or to the christmas markets, trips to theme parks, to Paris and many more. There were also plenty of volunteering opportunities with the local communities and with the company's local diversity council. Christmas parties and dinners were also on the list. Just need to have the time to do them all!