Assistant Aftersales Buyer - Body Exterior Review

Before I came to this placement I had set myself goals to acheive; I have achieved every single one. My colleagues are keen on giving me more responsibilities and experiences, which has been extremely beneficial. Even the suppliers that I have dealt with, who are aware that I am an undergraduate, have even been supportive. I have grown a lot in confidence and I now know what career path I would like to take after graduation.

At the beginning of the year my colleagues started me off on smaller tasks, but as the year has gone on they have given me more responsiblities and placed trust in me. I feel incredibly valued as they have given me harder tasks, and trust me to visit suppliers and lead my own meetings.

I have received a lot of support from my managers and colleagues, I am always told that there is no such thing as a stupid question. However I have not benefited from the mentoring scheme as I have only been in contact with my mentor once.

This can range from incredibly busy, to not having much to do. If I am having a quiet day it is usually due to a German bank holiday or a temporary supplier plant shut down - So this is not related to what tasks I am given.

I have been given quite a lot of responsibility in a range of aspects in my department as I assist about 5 of the buyers whilst also managing my own individual projects.

The training that I have received and skills that I have developed will greatly assist me in a graduate role. However, my undergraduate course does not focus on what I have been learning this year, but this is a problem to do with my course, not with the placement.

Our department is a lot louder than most would expect. Many of my colleagues have worked together for 10+ years, so there are some close friendships and a lot of jokes made. There's a very light hearted atsmosphere.

The placement was set up quite well. They invested a lot of time into my training, and also helped me to find a house for the year. This was at the beginning of the year, after that it was down to what my colleagues handed me to do, and this changed when they felt that I was coping with the workload better and becoming more confident.

At the start of the year the company invested a lot of time into training me on the systems we use in our department, and also on general programmes that are used e.g. Excel etc Since then the department I work for has focused on getting me out of the office to visit suppliers and have face to face meetings.

There is hardly any career advancement in my department, a lot of these jobs are offered over at our European facilities. There is also an uneven workload in my department, but as an assistant I get to experience most things. However the assistants role is only for undergraduates. I also dislike living in Luton, it's not a safe area.

There is not a lot to do in the Luton area. But there are good links into London, Harpenden etc (although after a while all the costs will add up).

Standard for most students. After deducting the cost of rent, food, bills, and socialising, from my wages I have still managed to save some money this year.

Terrible. Unless you go into London, St Albans, or Watford.

There's a lot of undergraduates who join the company, so friendship groups are made quite quickly. Then you will have to organise social events yourself. The company tends not to organise many social activities, unless it's coming up to Christmas.