Marketing Communications Placement Student Review

I support the Power Systems Business Unit (PSBU) Communications Team in partnership with peers across the other markets, by working in close contact with both external partners and internal stakeholders on a global scale. I regularly communicate via email and video call to achieve this, and work on various tasks each day. Projects I assist with include employee advocacy social content creation, writing internal and external articles, event execution, website updates and management of online and print advertising.
In terms of where I work, I am hybrid meaning I attend the office and see other placements and wider team around 2 days each week and work from home the rest of the time.

When I first started I was given a 90 day plan on how my responsibilities would ramp up over time. My manager made it clear that I would be given more responsibility as the placement went on but wanted to make sure I was comfortable first.
This was great as I had the opportunity to settle into the company and learn key information before taking on too much. 9/12 months in, I am now confident when given projects to tackle on my own such as writing articles or developing an employee advocacy campaigns. My manager still always makes sure I know I can go to him with any questions and that he will provide support if needed.

At Cummins I have developed a variety of skills and learnt new ones due to their focus on employee development. I attended four day-long training sessions for all placements on: Microsoft Excel, Communication and Impact, Project Management and Data Insight. Furthermore, I am currently undertaking a Marketing course which will provide a certification once completed and my manager granted me Photoshop access so I can learn how to use it and assist with creation of social media graphics.
I have also developed a variety of soft skills like confidence, time management and team work during my time at Cummins due to the wide variety of tasks I've had the opportunity to work on.

The support and guidance I receive is good, I can always ask my team questions and get support. On top of regular meetings, I have weekly 1:1 meetings with my manager who is based in the US to catch up and for him to check in on how I am getting on. In our local office, I have support from the another manager on our team who is always happy to give helpful tips or advice.

The company culture is good, everyone supports each other and is made to feel welcome. Each site has employee resource groups (ERGs) too, which helps strengthen our culture and promote the Cummins core values on a local scale. ERGs also connect people who may not work together; I am in the Local Diversity Council which promotes diversity at our site and this means I get to work closely with and meet a completely new team of people.

I am currently 9/12 months into my placement but have really enjoyed it so far. The flexibility of hybrid work is great and allows me to have a greater work life balance and the role itself is interesting with new projects coming along all the time and no 2 days being the same.
Being a truly global company, it has been great to work with both internal and external stakeholders around the world to get projects completed. Furthermore the opportunity to do volunteer work and promote diversity, inclusion, equality and culture within the company has been hugely satisfying.

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