My placement at Toyota Motor Europe

BEng (Hons) Automotive Engineering student, Izabella, spent her placement year working for Toyota Motor Europe, in the Assembly Division for Vehicle Production Engineering.

 

What did you do on your placement year?

I was working for Toyota Motor Europe’s Vehicle Production Engineering’s Assembly division. This Team is responsible for delivering equipment projects for the assembly shops of all European Toyota assembly shops, this includes modifying existing, or creating all new equipment for the new vehicle projects. As a placement student, I had my own equipment projects, and supporting roles in larger projects. Most of my projects were for the Toyota factory in the Czech Republic and were related to the steering of the vehicle.

What was your favourite part about the placement?

My favourite part was getting to work on real projects and having real responsibilities. I also really liked travelling on business trips, to other Toyota plants and equipment manufacturers.

What was the most challenging aspect?

I had to do a lot of presentations, as part of my training and as part of my job too. In the first couple of months I found these challenging, as I didn’t really know the audience. After a while I got a lot more comfortable doing presentations to my managers and other engineers.

Why did you choose to do a placement?

I wanted to do a placement to add some more value to my degree. Employers really appreciate industry-relevant experience.

Why did you do your placement at your chosen company?

I applied to Toyota because I appreciate how environmentally conscious they are. Toyota sets environmental challenges on a company level and works really hard to achieve these. It sets a good example for other manufacturers.

Do you have any advice on applications, interviews or just in general about a placement year?

It’s really good to practice competency assessments, most companies will ask you to complete some of these.

Clearing - give us a call card - clearing hotline

Clearing 2025

If you're considering your options for university this year, Clearing is a way for students to find the right course and university. Whether you aren't sure you'll meet your predicted grades, you've changed your mind about your firm choice, or you haven't applied yet, Clearing could be for you!

Find out more about Clearing

Related Content

What is a Freshers Fair?

To put it simply, BCUSU’s Welcome Fair is THE event you need to attend when you get here.

Five things I'm most excited about starting university

The run up to starting uni is an exciting one! Maro has just got her place at Birmingham City University and is gearing up for a new life moving from London to a new city.

Olivia's 7 adulting tips for university

If you’re starting uni this year, we’ve got a few tips to help ensure you don’t set the kitchen on fire or spend all your loan in your first week.

Chat with our students

Four of our students, Emily, Danish, Sophie and Mercy, answer all your questions about what it’s really like to be a student.