Finance Undergraduate Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Goodyear Dunlop so far. This placement has enabled me to get a good understanding of how the business works and also allowed me to grow and develop my skills, which will prove extremely beneficial throughout the remainder of my studies and during any form of employment carried out in the future.

I have felt highly valued by my colleagues, who have respected me and accepted me within their teams as a new member of the organization. Everyone is always willing to help and explain further, if ever I struggle to understand anything and I find that mutual respect between colleagues is thoroughly engrained in the company's values.

Management and supervisors have been extremely helpful throughout the course of my placement. I am carrying out a Finance placement which is structured in such a way that my role changes every few months, and so I am assigned to a different managers in charge of that particular team. I have a placement manager who has been extremely helpful so far and is always available to talk to if ever I need anything or any advice. Regular meetings have also been arranged were my progress is monitored and targets and goals are also set for me to work towards. I am automatically put on to various courses by the HR department, who do a great job ensuring that I get all the training and development which is necessary for me.

The amount of work assigned to me is just right most of the time. It can get quite busy sometimes for supervisors during month end periods which can divert their attentions as they are so busy, but they always ensure that there is something to keep me occupied throughout the day.

The level of responsibility given to me varies throughout the period that I am within a particular department. As time goes on the responsibilites increase and soon I am doing similar types of work to what the full time employees are carrying out.

The skills that I have developed so far will definitely help me towards achieving a better classification of degree when I return to university. I feel that I will be able to apply the practical knowledge gained during this placement to the theory which is learnt at university. I also believe that I will return to university with a whole different outlook on my future in terms of career aspirations, which will in turn allow me to remain focused and motivated to achieve the highest grades in my final year. Some of the training provide at Goodyear includes effective communications traing and also presentation skills training, both of which will prove useful throughout university and beyond.

The atmosphere in the office is perfect to carry out work to the best of your abilities. Each department works together with one another and everyone is very friendly and approachable.

The structure of this Finance placement is slightly different to other placements available at Goodyear. I have the opportunity to experience different roles within finance where I will be spending approximately two months in different functions including, credit control, management accounting, accounts payable, tax and treasury and financial controlling. This structure is ideal for what I want to achieve by the end of the placement. Reviews are carried out by my manager every month to ensure that everything is going according to plan.

Any future prospects of employment within Goodyear would be highly appealing to me as I believe that Goodyear Dunlop is an excellent company to work for, which is also globally recognized. From what I have seen so far, it really values its employees and ensures that employees are all up to date with the latest training and development available to them.

The was a good rapport between all the undergraduates, where some nights out are organised and there is also a regular football sessions once a week which includes some of the full time staff who will play with the undergraduates

Birmingham has a very vibrant night life and the city centre is approximately 15-20 minutes away from the Goodyear Dunlop Site.