Fleet Sales Analyst Review

This placement has been extremely valuable to me as I have developed personally and had a good experience of full-time working life. I have learnt how a global company operates on a daily basis and how all the departments interact with each other to produce a final product or service.

My colleagues helped me whenever I had questions about my role and shed light on areas of the business I was unsure about. The atmosphere provided by the team made the job very enjoyable.

My manager explains what certain pieces of work are for rather than just setting me tasks without getting me involved in the process. If I had any difficulties my team members would explain the errors I was making and correct them showing me how to avoid these errors in the future.

This can alter throughout the year. In September and March when the automotive market is at its peak with the new registration plates, I can get a lot of Ad-Hoc requests through. My busiest period was in January when I was doing a lot of reporting and analysis on the end of year registrations. I would look at 2013 vs 2014 and see how Vauxhall is doing compared to its targets. However there can be quieter periods where there is not much Ad-Hoc work coming through and my reports are not due.

This placement gives you a large responsibility that needs to be kept on top of throughout the year. I deal with Warranty and AA Cover vehicles which two companies externally need to receive and if this isn't done on time and correctly, customers of Vauxhall could face large issues which could result in them terminating business with Vauxhall. This is just two of the responsibilities that I hold but this makes me feel more valued by the company.

My presentation skills have progressed with the 3 'Who Am I' presentations to the managers and my director. My excel skills have developed greatly from when I first started. My communication skills have progressed a lot through speaking to various colleagues around the business, who are not necessarily in my department, and external people over the phone. This placement has not been extremely relevant to my degree although it was useful to see how a global company operates and interacts with its customers.

The atmosphere in the office was very positive and enjoyable. A productive environment can be seen throughout Vauxhall with many employees. My team were happy to help with any problems I would have even if it was not something they usually got involved with. Due to this atmosphere, it has been easy to speak to colleagues in all departments of the business, even if you had not spoken to them in the past.

In the first 2 weeks a 'handover period' was organised involving nights out and opportunities to get to know the other undergraduates and the former undergraduates. This really lets you settle into the business in friendship groups. we also had presentations by the directors in the first few weeks so we could get an aspect of the business from all departments. The halls of residence we stayed at in the first few weeks were nice although there was a large complication with rooms.

The company ran presentation and excel workshops for everyone to get involved in so you could develop these skills for the future. We also got offered Safe Driver training which was useful to everyone whether they drive or not. Once settled you can shadow other departments to see if you would follow these roles in the future or not.

Vauxhall has no official graduate scheme but contact you if they think a job role which is available is applicable to you, which you can then apply for. Other companies often fast-track undergraudates into graduate roles after university which I think Vauxhall should invest it.

There is a large undergraduate community of Vauxhall which grows every years with about 80 undergraduates at Griffin House this year with more at the plant. With many of them living in Luton, social events occur quite often whether they are in Luton or the surrounding areas. Everyone got on well this year which made all the social events much easier.

The cost of living in Luton (area dependant) is quite cheap to say it is near to London. Socialising in the area doesn't cost a huge amount either so plenty of money can be saved throughout this placement.

With only one major club in Luton which recently shut down, the night life is not great. there are plenty of bars and pubs to go to though. Often the undergraduates will go out to Watford or London to have a better night out.

Plenty of opportunities were offered including the London to Brighton bike ride, golf and rowing lessons, bowling and volleyball competitions and many more events organised by the EXCITE team who focus on giving extra to Vauxhall employees. Few gyms and sports centres in the area for employees to sign up to as well.