Commercial Finance Placement Student Review

I enjoyed my placement to a great extent. My commercial finance team was awesome to work with, placement students, graduates and other employees were also very friendly and helpful. My work tasks were interesting and kept me busy at most times. The location (Ramsgate) was beautiful! It's a lovely sea town with plenty of activities.

I felt very valued by my colleagues; in fact we were like family almost. The atmosphere was very positive amongst us. My work was appreciated a lot by my team, and I would be given even more challenging work once I had completed my day-to-day tasks.

My supervisor provided excellent support and guidance during my placement year. During the first few weeks of my placement, my manager would spend a lot of time at my desk explaining tasks and procedures over and over again without complaining until I fully understood the work. Even towards the end of the placement, I was still given 100% support and guidance from both my supervisor and my team.

There was never a day when I had nothing to do. Busyness heavily depended on the current stage of the month. For example, the busiest times for me were the week leading up to month-end, and the first two weeks of the month as I had many task under strict deadlines.

I was given more responsibility than I had expected before the placement. I was given responsibility for a major database which was used by most of the site. I was also given responsibility over ensuring that customers payments are being collected in time, and any more vital tasks.

I have a gained and developed some many sets of skills through this placement. Consistent training focusing on teamwork, presentations, leadership and more have been of great benefit to me. This will help me gain better grades during my last year of university.

The general atmosphere in the office was great! I was lucky to be in a team where work was being taken very seriously, however it was perfectly balanced with the good attitudes of my team. There was good balance of laughter and work overall.

The work placement was organised very well. During my first week, my manager had presented me with a detailed work plan, highlighting my responsibilities and ad-hoc activities. I had regular meetings with my manager, where I would be pointing out any concerns and keep on track about my performance. There would also be quarterly performance reviews.

In terms of personal training and development, the company invested a lot in placement students. I received training on how to use the accounting software's. There were also 'placement modules'. There were about four of them which were whole day training days which helped us integrate into a business environment. Lastly, there was training which complied to the company's core values.

Cummins offers many opportunities to graduates from any degree. There is a rotational program which allows employed graduates to rotate to different locations and gain experience within different roles in the chosen field. Being a previous placement student at Cummins, there would be an advantage when applying for a graduate scheme.

There was a very good social scene amongst my colleagues. The company would advertise plenty of activities to get involved in at a discounted price. It was pretty good as you had the opportunity to get involved with the rest of the team outside of work. The social scene amongst placements was not too bad either.

Living in Ramsgate was quite cheap. I shared a house with three other placement students and paid decent priced rent. There was an Aldi, which was quite good as I was able to save some money on food rather than shopping at tesco. Socialising was also very cheap in Ramsgate, there are plenty of nice places to eat and drink for a reasonable price.

The night-life was good. There were quite a few pubs and bars which were dominated by young adults. Being next to the sea made the night-life even more exciting. Canterbury, which is a student town, is only a 20min train journey away from Ramsgate. This was another great place with a very good night-life overall.

There many opportunities to get involved in outside work. There were many volunteering opportunities, such as getting involved with a beach clean. There was also a tennis court and a golf course to get involved with.