My placement at Volkswagen Financial Services

Jack Woods, a final year Business Management student, completed their placement year as a Product Integration Undergraduate at Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS), based in Milton Keynes. Jack’s drive to undertake a placement year stemmed from seeing a role that truly spoke to him.

Tell us about the application process?

I’ve always wanted to work in the automotive industry, so that helped to filter down the number of placements I was planning to apply for. I used my own knowledge and searched online for as many automotive brands as I could.

The application process for VWFS consisted of an online application, a video interview and finally an assessment centre. To prepare for this, I did my research in order to understand exactly what the recruiter was looking for. This included understanding the company’s key values and then preparing examples ready for those competency questions so I could demonstrate how I’ve embodied their values and skills. 

I reached out to the Careers team early on in my second year and was put into contact with Zaheer. He was able to support me through regular one-to-ones, CV reviews, feedback and preparation ahead of each stage of the application process.

I also utilised the Graduate+ platform to practice psychometric testing, video interviews and group tasks. This enabled me to be more prepared for the different types of assessments that I would face during each of my applications.

I initially spoke to my lecturers during my first semester about my plans to take a placement year. John Colby was a great support in particular; he helped me refine and structure my presentation for the VWFS role and helped me practice, which was great, alongside practicing in front of my family. 

Tell us about your placement at VWFS?

My first day working for VWFS mainly involved getting to know my team and who I would be working with, a tour of the office and collecting my equipment, plus collecting my work loan car.

As the Product Integration Undergraduate at VWFS, I primarily provided support to multiple product teams to launch their financial products/services and provide in-life support for those products and services.

My day-to-day consisted of working closely with Product Integration Managers, Channel Managers and Product Owners to undertake a variety of tasks including:

• Incident management and the monitoring of live product issues.
• Ensuring smooth communication and cohesion amongst each product team.
• Conducting primary research from a customer's point of view to identify inconsistencies and opportunities for improvement.

How has your placement year improved your skills?

The experience of undertaking a placement has been invaluable, both in terms of helping to realise what I want to do post-graduation but also in terms of how much it’s helped to develop me as a person.

It has had a positive impact on my self-confidence, presentation and communication skills, especially from working with senior stakeholders across the business. Previously, during my time at University, I would avoid presenting and kept myself to myself but in the workplace, I had to regularly present which allowed me to become more comfortable in doing so. 

Whilst working across multiple teams simultaneously, I have been able to improve my time management skills through managing varying workloads for each team. My adaptability has also developed as I have grown to become accustomed to each team's unique ways of working.

I believe the development of these skills during my time on placement has helped prepare me as best as possible for my future career.

What have been your top highlights?

I think my proudest achievement is presenting to the Board of Management at VWFS as part of the Undergraduate Sustainability Project. I set out at the beginning of my placement that I’d love to feel confident enough to present to the Board, which for me was one of my biggest challenges.

Another highlight for me was being recognised based for the impact I had on bringing the eCommerce team closer together. When I joined, I noticed the team was quite disjointed and working in their own silos. To bring the team closer, I arranged off-site visits and team days with the aim of bringing us closer together and ultimately, I left the business with huge thanks and a much closer team that all understood each other channel’s a lot better.

Finally, when I supported the DRIVE team by uploading Volkswagen Group vehicles into our Asset Cloud system. I was able to learn process from scratch, understand and get to grips with the software whilst also becoming a focal contact between VWFS and VWG for brand information such as pricing, imagery, and model codes for our Retail Contract Hire channel. As a result, in Q2, I was chosen to lead the Audi quarterly update by the Product Integration Manager for DRIVE by which I delivered ahead of schedule and received stakeholder praise.

Before concluding my placement, I also created a training guide for the process and ran workshops to upskill the wider eCommerce team and eliminate our previous single point of failure. 

What challenges did you face?

I think my biggest challenge was a team restructure that occurred around seven months into my placement. This meant my line manager that originally recruited me moved into a separate team and I received a new line manager. Alongside this some team members were moved into another team, and we received two new colleagues into the team.

This was a big transition period for the team, so from the get-go I organised a volunteering day to bring the team together in a less-formal environment and create stronger relationships. I also incorporated quarterly off-sites for the new team, again aimed at spending more time together.

Any advice for students currently thinking about undertaking a placement?

Try not to let it get you down if you get rejected for a role as this is normal as the job market is so competitive now, that role just wasn’t meant to be!

Make sure to do your homework, show you’ve done your research, and this will shine through during your applications. For example, find out about the company’s key values, what they look for in applicants and prepare questions to ask your interviewers as well to show your interest in the role.

Finally, I know it sounds obvious, but I’d recommend only applying for roles you’d want to do and know you will enjoy as this will help ensure you get the most out of your placement. Remember, you’ve taken a year out of your life to do this!