Business Analyst Review

I have really enjoyed my time at Honda, as it is a large international company it gives you the opportunity to work within a Head Office environment, giving exposure to all aspects of how a business works. Additionally, understanding how multiple entities work together as Honda is made up of Honda Motor Europe, Honda UK and Honda Finance Europe all based in the head office.

Honda employees are great people, they were very welcoming when I first started my placement and have continued to be so throughout. There is mutual respect throughout all levels in the business and that of different nationalities. However sometimes recognition of good work or reward is not noticed by anyone which can make you feel under valued.

The Honda Management are extremely supportive providing you ask for the help, I was not always enjoying my workload and when mentioned to my manager they always took the concern seriously and did their best to be able ensure that i was enjoying my time at Honda. They also wanted to ensure that you get the most out of the year giving the opportunity to get involved in as much as possible.

The workloads varies from role to role, however sometimes I did find myself at a loose end at some points within my role. For the most part if I asked for additional work they would be able provide me with it. However, occasionally they struggled to find work to give me.

When operating in the finance team I was given a lot of responsibility from running an area of the finance team day to day carrying out daily tasks, also being included and carrying out projects for business improvement. Also being able to assist to work with heads of departments and the general manager.

I have developed a great variety of skills on my placement year, from being able to use in business functions, understanding how to use some of the big business systems which are transferable skills which i can add to my CV for future roles within my desired area. It has allowed me to dramatically improve my excel skills which i will be able to take forward into my final year at uni and also be able to use in a future job.

The atmosphere within the office was quite good, it was an open plan office with no segregation between management. Depending on what team you are based in will depend on the amount of chat, but there is quite a good balance between work and talking. However nothing really happens in the office other than this, events etc.

Initially starting the placement was poor, it did not feel like there was a plan in place for when i started, I had not got access to systems that i was going to using. Also a limited amount of work within the first couple of months with management not always having work to be able to give me. So sometimes sat reading through HR Policy and company values to pass time. Also the HR Presentation were focusing around long term employees rather than short term.

I went on an Excel Training course which was external, this was the only training course that i was given, during customer services week there was presentations to attend for any employee regarding self improvement. Other than this any other training was provided in house by the person in the role.

I think this will vary on what team you are based within some teams are much more interested in taking on their placement students for a role after graduating. I haven't currently been offered any thing for the future but this could come whilst in my final year at university.

As Honda took on 13 placement students in June/July we had a good group of us that all became friends and would with each other, some placements students would sit with their teams at lunch, again i think this depends on what your relationship with your team is. However i have made some good friends through Honda with other placement students and colleagues.

I lived in Reading and commuted to Bracknell, it was expensive to live in Reading, however was convenient for getting into Reading town where there is a good variety of shops, however there is a new shopping centre in Bracknell. Socialing with any events for work was quite difficult as most people commute quite a distance and the station isn't close to the office so if you wanted to drink it was an issue getting home.

I didn't rate the Reading Nightlife, there is no proper club but more bars which are open really late so if you are looking for a good night out i would recommend travelling a bit further afield. However Reading does have a good selection of pubs if you are just looking for a couple of drinks.

I was part of the Honda corporate football team, which was a good opportunity to meet some of the others people around the building from the different entities. However other than this not a lot, some people would run at lunch time and there was one team event over the year. With a few offer's of drinks after work which was made difficult with travel.