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 really enjoyed my placement year at Johnson and Johnson working as a supply analyst in the consumer business for Norther Europe. It provided me with amazing opportunities to develop but also real responibilities that offered vital work satisfaction.
My colleagues all deemed me to be one of the valued employees of the Supply Chain team and i never once felt as if i was a placement student. This respect and confidence provided by my colleagues vastly improved my confidence in the workplace and my work, making sure all my opinions were valued as everyone elses.
There is a focus on decentralised management here at Johnson and Johnson which allows one to really develop their own work and take responsibility early on. However support and guidenance was never far away and often management were easily approachable with any queries and would often provide biweekly catch ups to provide a forum for support and guidance.
The personal responsibility comes at a price and most days are extremely busy. This could be linked to many other ad hoc roles and responsibilities that were given to me which would often tip the balance over the edge on certain occasions. The general role is balanced with only friday being the less busy day due to a slighly more relaxed atmosphere.
I was provided with multiple opportunities to take on more and more responsibility throughout my placement year and by the end i was looking after important sole responsibility of which only i was accountable for. Your responsibility grows with your own personal development in the role.
I believe that going back for my final year at University of Leeds studying Economics and geography after my placement year will provide me with much needed comemrcial awareness and real life platform to understand economic theory i have learnt over the two years. I have also learnt the value of collaboration to acheive a greater goal and will certainly be taking this back in my final year to improve the chances of acheiving a higher grade. I truly believe i have developed skills for life that will prove to be invaluable for future studies and employment.
The Company
A relaxed and friendly atmosphere throughout the office with a focus on enjoying your work whilst achieving great results.
The handover period with the previos placement is a great set up to develop early on and provides a format to exchange tips and tricks for the year ahead from a first hand basis. More overall training could be provided for the job role and key responsibilities as their is more focus on you doing it yourself.
The firm invested time and effort in my personal development with my line manager often spedning time to discuss positives and negatives whilst reflecting on what i have been doing. More focus is needed on the Supply chain role with more resources required to invest more in my personal development as i felt the firm focused more attention on other areas such as marketing.
Flexi Time
Subsidised Canteen
Sports and Social Club
Company Parties/Events
Working from home
Healthcare/Dental
Unfortuntely there is no graduate route from my placement role in the Supply chain Northern Europe area although they are reviewing whether to implement a graduate level employment prospect. A regional graduate scheme is offered across Europe but is highly competitive.
The Culture
There was a good social scene between the 15 placements often planning charity events, social evenings and housing situations. Often there was social events involving colleagues which ranged from sports days, go karting and ping pong.
The cost of living was high in Maidenhead where the Northern Europe office is based as it is located in county of Berkshire close to London. The social aspect was huge in the area with Reading and London being so close meaning there was a wealth of activities to get involved in.
In Maidenhead it was somewhat limited with only a few nightclubs but there are many good pubs and TWO SPOONS!. Reading and London each 20-40 minute commute away provide a much greater nighlife opportunity.
There was a tremendous amount of extra curricula activities to get involved in whether that be the chairty commitee, cricket team, football on a wednesday and also other random social evenings.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
International
June 2016