Social Media Assistant Review

My work placement year at Toyota GB has been great! I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here and have been involved in a wide range of projects, attended a huge amount of events and learnt so much. I have had the opportunity to work with lots of different departments and gathered a wide range of business knowledge that I can apply to other roles in the future. Each day there were new and exciting tasks to get stuck into. You are fully supported at Toyota.

My department was welcoming from day one. My handover with my previous student was thorough and I couldn't have wished for a more welcoming team. Everyone is treated equally and you're seen as a key contact in the department. Toyota GB welcomes working in teams and making sure everyone's opinions are heard, regardless of grade/job role.

Managers within my department were amazing! They were fully supportive and provided lots of guidance throughout the year. Training was available if wanted/encouraged and they felt it was important to ensure I was getting the most out of my placement year. Managers encouraged me to ask questions and further develop my knowledge on a daily basis. Each day the management within Toyota looked after their team extremely well and always considered the student for exciting trips and projects out of the office.

I had a number of daily, weekly and monthly tasks that were carried out during my placement year. There was never a quiet day! If there was a slow period, there was always someone ready with work you can do. You're encouraged to help everyone and anyone if they need assistance during busy periods. As the year progressed, involvement with new projects became larger and you were asked to be more hands on with content curation, scheduling and community management.

During my placement year at Toyota GB I was given a huge amount of real responsibility. Producing reports for the wider company and presenting these too, you really have to make sure you're producing high quality work. An objective included re-structuring reports and taking on this task. I was also given the opportunity to host for Toyota GB at an influencer event in the Netherlands.

The skills I developed throughout my year at Toyota will aid group projects and assignments when back at university. Learning how to manage my time effectively, whilst creating work of a high quality will mean I can handle the pressures of fourth year when managing lectures, seminars and assignments.

The atmosphere in the office was welcoming, cheery and positive. No-one came in without saying 'Good Morning' or left without saying 'Good Night'. If you need a chat, people will always go out of their way to help and the positivity in the office created a fun and enjoyable working environement.

There's an internal grad scheme where only placement students that have completed a one year/two year placement can apply. Essentially you are only competing with your other student colleagues. To apply for this grad scheme you complete a project (PDCA) and attend an assessment centre after your placement has finished.

The cost of living can be a shock if you're coming from a cheaper university city. Coming from Leeds to Epsom/London was a step up. I paid £650 per month to live around a 20 minute walk from the office (5 minute commute by car). The cost of socialising isn't too bad once you know where the best places are! Dinner costs around £20 and drinks range from £5-7 depending on your drink of choice. The best thing about Epsom is the short commute to London (around 30 mins by train).

Epsom nightlife is quite quiet. However, the opportunity to head into London at the weekend is great! Night tubes run at the weekend and it means you can make the most out of the time down south. Epsom does have some lovely pubs and quieter restaurants if you're not the partying type.

Toyota runs a sports and social club that offers a number of different social nights throughout the year. This club includes a discounted gym (on-site gym), discounted pub nights, karaoke nights and discounts to large events such as Epsom Races and Afternoon Tea in London. It costs a small amount per month but you'll barely notice it come off your paycheck!