Sales - Industrial Placement Student Review

The placement has been brilliant, much more than I could of hoped for. Everyday I enjoy coming into work as each day brings new challenges which has been great for my development.

From day one I have been welcomed into the team with open arms, which has been great as I was slightly apprehensive prior to the placement. I have always been treated with respect and never looked down upon as just a student. The positive feedback and level of responsibility made me feel a real value to the company.

My manager has been fantastic. He's always there for me if I have any questions or problems, and we hold weekly meetings to review my progress and offer me feedback and guidance. Not only my manager, but other members of staff are always there with a helping hand if I need to overcome a problem ot get stuck with a task.

Throughout the placement i've been allocated a variety of tasks and projects which have kept my busy each day as well as offering me a wide range of skills/experience.. If I am ever coming towards the end of a task or projects, I can just ask members of the team if they have any work for me, so I am always busy with something.

I have been given a large amount of responsibility throughout the placement, including work for senior management and communication with main customers. I've been allocated the same amount of responsibility expected by a permanent employee, rather than looked upon as just a student.

I now feel when I arrive back at university for my final year, I will be able to apply my practical experience and skills from this placement, into my theoretical side and link them together with a greater amount of knowledge.. The skills I have learned through experience and training will provide me with an upper hand when applying for graduate roles, as well as experience of an office/business environment for when i'm in future employment.

The atmosphere in the office was very good; filled with optimism and a positive feeling between each member of staff.

The placement in general was extremely organised - each year the company has a placement student in the department so they knew what they were doing.

I was provided with internal training on a regular basis and kept up to date with the Cummins latest training schemes. I was also enrolled on a training scheme where an external firm came in and provided specific sales training.

The company have a great graduate-scheme available which I will definitely be interested in applying for.

The HR department in the company set up a Facebook group for all the placements students to talk/arrange to do activities which is very helpful. There is also a meet and greet day prior to the placements starting which gives them a chance to bond and make friends. As a group of placement students we regularly go on group activities and have even booked weekend trips away. Within my office team, we have quarterly activities/nights out to enhance team bonding. We also had a Christmas Night Out which was a great night out with the team.

I'm from the local area so I lived at home with my parents during the placement, so for me the cost of living was fairly low in comparison to other placement students who had to rent accommodation.

The nightlife are fairly good with a variety of restaurants/bars/clubs as well as places such as snooker/pool club, tenpin bowling, cinema, bingo, casino etc. Larger cities such as Leeds and Manchester are only short train journeys away which offers a larger amount of options.

Yes there are many sports/social clubs in the surrounding areas which are easy to gain access to.