Customer Service Co-Ordinator Review

The first thing I would say to bear in mind with Placements is that unlike a Grad Scheme there is no guarantee for firms that you will be continuing your career with them. As a result there is not always as much of a focus on development and progression or getting involved in as much stuff as potentially with a Graduate Scheme.

I was made to feel really welcome within my team and wider department. There are frequent evening events planned for informal meals out etc with teams which are often funded by the business and these really help to build good relations with colleagues. On a work level I quickly became a source of knowledge and help for many colleagues and felt they valued my input.

Durng my particular year there has been a large upheavel in the structure of the department which have made operations quite disjointed and management have sometimes struggled to give as good a level of support as before this change. For 9 months of my placement I was however part of a really solid team with a great helpful and supportive line manager and I'm sure that the issues experienced recently are only temporary whilst people adjust to their new roles.

As mentioned above the structure changes means that I suddenly became the most experienced member of my team as new colleagues were recruited in and for a period of time I was incredibly busy covering the roles of those that had left whilst helping to train others on processes and support them in their new roles.

For experience, responsibility and the chance to prove yourself I would say this year has been unrivalled. I was responsibile on a daily basis for the accounts of multi million pound customers.

In terms of working knowledge of SAP, networking, business acumen and the development of many other skills I have greatly benefited from my placement and this will certainly help me in my final year and future career.

Before the previously mentioned structure change the department and office was a great place to work however the upheavel and difficulty has led to the atmosphere deteriorating somewhat but as mentioned I am confident this is likely to only be a short term issue as people adjust to the new structure and roles.

As a new starter to the business I was put through a week long comprehensive induction plan which was a great introduction and grounding to the busines. In terms of the overall placement you take on a role within a team of colleagues and are treated no differently to these colleagues and as such there is very little in the way of a structure or plan for the placement as you are expected to perform within the realms of the role you are assigned.

As mentioned previously I didn't experience a great deal of personal training or development outside of that necessary to improve my performance or knoweldge relevant to the role I was assigned. I would put this down to the fact that unlike a Graduate Scheme there is no guarantee that you will contimue your career within the company.

Having been with Kraft for a year I am certianly considering applying for their Graduate Scheme and continuing my career here but am also mindful to consider that there are other opportunities available.

For my intake there were only 3 of us on placement within this office and so social scene amongst just us students was quite limited although I have made great friends with the 2 of them. In terms of the social scene with other colleagues though there is a great group of people and lots of social events are often planned after work.

Bournville itself is notoriously expensive to live and so I lived in the centre of Birmingham for my placement year which in itself is expensive but I would say on a par with most UK city centres.

The nightlife in Bournville itself where the office is based consists of a pub over the road from the office but you are 10 minutes on the train from Birmingham city centre and its nightlife.

I would say there are a fair amount of opportunites available with colleagues for activities outside of work. I frequently played five a side with colleagues and know there were also weekly netball matches. We have also played charity football and cricket matches against colleagues on the full sized pitches outside the office.