Business Development Undergraduate Review

I have enjoyed my placement year at Pendragon Plc, it has been extremely interesting to work in a successful business of this scale and watch such significant changes take place in such a small period of time. It has taught me a lot of how to conduct myself in business environment and given me experience of working with senior managers.

I have felt like I am one of my team. At the start of my placement they all made me feel extremely welcome and if I ever had any questions I knew I could always ask for help. I know feel one of the team, understanding the processes and they know they can rely on me to get the job done.

My supervisors were very helpful, they were always there to make sure I was OK and that I was happy and understood the nature of the task. If I ever felt like I needed anything or some extra support I knew they would be there to help, in order for me to do the job to the best of my ability.

The work load at the start of my placement was quite small, but this was understandable as I would take some time to find my feet before I could contribute to anything major within the team. Compared to now I have a large amount of my own projects on going and also support the other members of my team if anything urgently needs doing.

I am given the responsibly to make my own decisions on my individual projects that I have. I was trusted with things that I knew I has experienced before. However, if there anything I was unsure of I would always be told to double check with someone before it was finalised as a wrong decision could cost the business.

I feel that this year has been a massive change for me. The skills I have learnt this year have prepared me for a future graduate role and has made me prepared for things that can go wrong and how to react in these situations. I now understand and can relate to theories within my degree, which I am excited to explore in my final year.

The office I have worked in is a traditional office atmosphere, I work with managers with a very high level of pressure and large work load. Saying this, we always had time of fun whether that was cake days, Friday breakfasts oroffice quizzes to keep up moral with the office

The talent and Learning and Development teams at Pendragon were hugely helpful through my whole placement. They give a wide range of support to help undergraduates with their training and development through the year. They really want to help and teach us to become the leaders of the future, which was very well organised and communicated to us all.

Every month I had modules at the Training Academy which taught me more about the business at also strategies of time management and leadership. Within the head office there were regular Speakers Corners where a senior manager would give a talk on their experience within the business and tips on how to reach your future goals.

Pendragon have a Graduate Programme which you can apply to once leaving university, from this there are huge prospects within the business. With Pendragon being so large and diverse there are many different roles which could suit you and lots of ways in which to develop and be promoted to different jobs.

Yes, my fellow placement students have become good friends, as we have been going through the same process it has been interesting seen their version of the year and what they have gained and realised heading into our final year. Through the undergraduate programme we have learnt a lot about what it is like to work in different parts of the business.

With my placement being local, I have lived at home. However, the cost of socialising if not too expensive as Nottingham City Centre is not far away and there is tram and train links to the village next to Pendragon. Within Nottingham there are loads of reasonably priced places to eat and drink.

Nottingham is very good for a night out. I has a lot of students around, with lots of good clubs and bars. There are student nights at Rock City on a Thursday which is always a bonus. You can go for a casual few cocktails or for a big birthday night out!

For me this is something that I wasn't offered, but I am aware that there is a netball and running club which Pendragon Team members take part in. I would have liked to have had the opportunity to join this, however the opportunity never arose to take part in this.