Product Marketing Assistance at Toyota GB

My placement year working in TGB and Product Marketing has been amazing, the company truly cares for its employees and has provided us an excellent environment to work in. Working in Product Marketing has been fun, with the role of product research and launches, although during launches it can be very busy, but the perks are the opportunities to try out our own and competitor's new cars. This is particularly exciting for a petrol head like me.

From just within my team, to our department and the company as a whole, I felt a part of the company and valued by my colleagues at work. My ideas and feedback was always considered which naturally motivates me to work better. The student group within the company are also valued very highly, this can be seen by the encouragement for our feedback and ideas and also getting the same level of perks and benefits as other long term employees.

During the 12 months placement, my manager and higher level has always looked after us. This is not only in my own perspective, but as a team. Firstly, our managers has always communicated information to us effectively (especially in these unusual WFH periods), and when there are challenges in managing our tasks our manager is always willing to listen and help. This is really important as a placement student due to our relatively lack of experience in work places.

Product Marketing is a fast paced moving department, due to the amount of big and small new launches, and us being the central source of information on all things vehicles. This means we often have to manage our tasks as well as other's, work load is fine if time is managed with tasks given with plenty of time and notice. However, during car launches or when tasks are given with a very short turn around time, it can be over whelming.

There are varying level of responsibly for a product marketing student, from small tasks such as checking and providing marketing information, to bigger tasks such as market research and can directly contribute to the commercial success of the company. There are responsibilities for me that are unique to me, which motivates me to do my best. I felt I am also trusted with the level of responsibilities, which is great for a placement student.

Personally, I felt the experience and skills gained on the job was more helpful then the training given. In-terms of training they were ok, and there were training cancelled due to WFH. The skills that are most useful are developed in a day to day basis (things like inter personal skills and time management skills), and will be skills for life which are only possible through a working environment, and of course this is why we have chosen to have a placement year from uni.

The atmosphere in the office is great, and there are plenty of presentations and events. The atmosphere within the department is even better, this is mainly due to my colleagues being fun and cheerful, and we also have plenty of social events outside the office. It was never boring the work in the office, which is great for everyone and I'm grateful for this. Even during these WFH periods, the company is still trying to keep us in touch by posting articles in the intranet to keep us in touch.

Overall, the placement was very well set up, and there are framework and structure set within the company for placement students.

The company has set up training for the students which we were very grateful for, and we were given the choice to request training. There is also a scheme where the company will pay £150 for any personal training out side of work (like sports etc.).

In-terms of progressing from student placement to graduate scheme, there is a very limited chance due to the number of graduate scheme place available. To my knowledge, there are also other future opportunities to work in TGB, but this is not guaranteed.

One of the highlights of this placement was my colleagues and fellow students. In our team and students we have regular social events, and always have lunch together at work (it became a difficult decision to balance team lunch or student lunch!). Outside of work we had team social events like Christmas Pub Quiz, and amongst the students we went on a trip abroad. House sharing with my fellow students have also made the experience enjoyable.

The office and work is based in Surrey, therefore the living cost are slightly higher then other places. The biggest effect of this is rents and difficulty in finding houses in the area (as students), therefore it will be difficult to have savings unless you are living from home. Finding a house to rent as students will require a lot of searching, but its is all worth it. This should not be a reason from stopping you to have a great placement year.

Nightlife in the nearby area as not great, I would recommend going / living closer to London if nightlife is a priority.

Apart from the social activities within my team and the students, the company also has a sports and social club, this includes weekly Monday night football and (recently) weekly tennis practice.