Assistant, Corporate Social Responsibility & Environmental Affairs Review

The role is split between community and environmental initiatives; the bulk of my responsibility falls on the community side. This involves co-ordinating our community grants programme, responding to charitable requests, co-ordinating charity partnerships and arranging staff volunteering initiatives among other things. Environmental responsibilities involve logging environmental performance data, co-ordinating task force meetings and project managing Green Month. The role is heavily project based, with plenty of daily/monthly/quarterly tasks to complete.

My Excel skills have improved massively from all the data logging and analysis that I carry out. I have also learned about Power BI reports. The role is great for developing soft skills - such as written communication, problem solving, and project management. I own a lot of the projects that I work on, so this has helped my confidence and organisational skills.

Yes, lots. I owned the following: - Dream Car Art Contest - Toyota & Lexus Community Funds - Green Month - Code of Conduct re-write I also had a lot of communication with external stakeholders and other departments from across the business, and from pretty early on was given the power to make my own choices for how to respond to various situations.

My manager and wider team have been incredible throughout my placement. They're always happy to help and answer questions whenever needed. I have weekly 1-2-1's with my manager so there is plenty of opportunity or iron out any concerns, and we sit in the same area so anything that arises in the moment is easily dealt with, too.

The whole company is extremely friendly. I've interacted with a lot of different departments and can honestly say I've not come across anybody that I've disliked! There are 20+ students on placements around the business, so you build some really close-knit friendships which is great.

This placement has far exceeded my expectations. It's been extremely hands-on and I've been given lots of opportunities - such as to write the company's new code of conduct - that I never expected for my first year of professional experience. The team and staff are all so friendly, and I feel very welcomed here.

Yes

Just be yourself at all stages of the application - don't show off or try to come across as super knowledgeable or experienced in the field (unless you are!). Hiring managers here recognise that the placement is likely your first office job and will be all about growth and learning, so they're really more interested in you as a person and soft skills you possess.