Product Marketing Assistant Review

I have really enjoyed my work placement at Vauxhall Motors this year, I think it has been really valuable to me and Vauxhall are really good at helping you to get the most out of your year. I think it has been really valuable to me as a person and gaining experience in this type of environment for a whole year is hugely important, coming from university it was a great change but I now understand how prepared I need to be when starting my career after university. I was able to gain experience in other areas of the business not only by working with so many other departments but also through spending a few hours with other teams purely getting to know what they do and experiencing their side of things. Overall I have had a great experience as I have achieved and learned everything that I set out to.

I know that my colleagues have valued me, throughout the year they have assisted me to have the best experience possible.

All undergrads have a mentor outside of their department to help guide them through the year, I found this to be very useful as he advised me how to go about situations which I was unsure about. My mentor also helped me to gain experience in his department. My manager was always willing to help, we set goals for me to achieve throughout the year which really helped. The other members of the team were very supportive to me, I felt at ease to ask as many questions as I felt neccessary, whenever I felt that my workload was getting on top of me they would help me in any way possible.

Due to my role, how busy I was could vary a fair amount. During times of things such as new product launches, i was extremely bust with a contant list of things to do, this could be stressful at times but I personall really enjoyed this. During months of work when I was not having to assit with anything extra, I was kept busy with my normal role, this was enough to keep me busy on a day to day basis but I did not feel pressure or as if the workload was too much.

In terms of responsibility, Vauxhall very much trusts all undergraduates and treat you the same as any other staff. I was given a huge amount of responsibility very quickly after starting at Vauxhall which was a very nice surprise. I had heard from previous placement students that they were good at this but i didnt realise to this extent!

My skills have hugely developed in a number of ways. Since being here I have done a safe driver course, excel training, advanced excel training, presentation training, IT training etc. This will all significantly help me in my final year of university. I know that I am now prepared for the working world once I leave my final year of university which I am extremely happy about as it can take a while to get used to it. If i was to enter a graduate role straightafter university I would be prepared for this.

I think it varies from one department to another. In my department the office environment is relaxed and friendly which was definitely the kind of environment I like to work in. It was really good to work alongside another undergraduate, it helps to have someone around you who is also in the same position as you.

I think it was set up quite well, my handover was very helpful and i felt confident after the first 2 weeks I was able to continue the role without a huge amount of help. I did find that some information provided was unneccessary to me but I was happier to recieve more information than less.

They invested me a huge amount, I did a number of workshops which helped me a lot throughout my placement and will stay with me throughout ny career. Safe driver, excel, IT, presentation, NCBS, shadowing other departments.

It would be an option to pursue a future career here as it is a good working environment and there are many opportunities to progress in the company.

There was a good social scene with the other placement students. Most weekends a number of placement students would get together and do weekend trips as well. Handover which is the first 2 weeks and the last 2 weeks of the year are very sociable. All of the new and current undergrads get together every evening for the 14 nights which is a lot of fun and helps everyone to get to know each other.

The cost of living and socialising is quite cheap in this area.

The nighlife in the actual area was not great but you can get a cab fairly cheaply to surrounding areas where there is much more nightlife!

There are some sports clubs and gyms surrounding the office, there are regular football teams etc.