Product Development Coordinator Review

Hard work is always praised which makes you feel valued, and that you are making a difference by having a positive impact on your team. If you are ever struggling with a project, there is always somebody willing to help.

My manager was brilliant, and I think I have been very fortunate to have him guide me through my placement. He was actually a placement student when he was at uni, so I think that helps a lot. If I ever had any questions or needed more support, he was happy to help, and I was never made to feel bad for asking. I think having a good manager can have a huge impact on your placement experience.

It varied from week to week - sometimes I would be busy and other times not so much, but on average it balanced out ok.

I was given my own reports to run each month on products across Europe, such as GPS, which I was responsible for sending out to the marketing community. Also, I was often given mini-projects which I would take care of after being briefed. I had one-to-one meetings each week with my manager, where we reviewed what I was working on and whether my workload was ok. If I wasn't too busy, my manager always had something else for me to focus on.

The skills I have learnt and enhanced since my placement are invaluable. I feel that in some ways, I have learnt more on my placement about business than I did in my first two years of uni. Not only do your communication skills improve from dealing with colleagues across different countries, but your IT skills improve greatly. Also, I think that working in this kind of environment will definitely help me understand my studies better, because I can apply theory to my practical experience in an international company.

The office could often be quite quiet due to people working from home or travelling abroad on business, but in general it is a friendly professional environment to work in.

It was very organised - the process happened very quickly. I think it was only a 2-3 week window from my first telephone interview, to assessments and face-to-face interview, to being offered the job. The contract was through the post the next day.

I chose not to, but you are told you can go on courses to help develop things such as excel skills. There is always people in the office that can help develop certain skills too. For example, an excel whiz sat down with me for some time to go through the basics and show me easier ways to run reports.

There was not many placement students at Avis, but within the marketing department there were 3 of us, and we always had lunch together. Sometimes people go for drinks after work, and sometimes we were taken out for lunch as a whole team.

The south east can be quite expensive but you get paid enough to make it affordable.

I didn't go out in Bracknell, but Reading has a good nightlife and Windsor isn't too far away. Also, London is only a short train ride away.