Industrial Operations: Manufacturing - West Midlands Review

Decently good, did well to get us involved with other grads at the beginning of the scheme to build a network. Some inconsistencies in how the graduate scheme is administered depending on 'stream' and site including different placement requirements that should probably have been described on the job listing.

In my first placement I was in PQ this was largely to get me introduced to the company as getting my laptop and logins to company software took some time. I spent 3 months in the team observing and later performing quality assurance tests on finished products.
I am now in my second placement in Current Manufacturing Engineering (CME) which is about to wrap up after 6 months. During this placement I have been involved in both updating process and maintaining manufacturing standards for existing models as well as acting as a customer for the new manufacturing processes coming in for a model launch.

I am assigned tasks and largely allowed to operate under my own steam. There is minimal micro-management and I feel my output is appropriately valued.

The pay is solid especially when considering the option for an increased working week bringing the 37 hour week up to a 40 hour week and pay scaling accordingly. However, there are minimal additional perks and benefits. There is a lack of additional accredited learning, we are sent to a partner company for core skills training but there is minimal help towards accreditation for engineers and whilst other companies may contribute to master's degrees or modules towards master's degrees I have not seen this offered at any level.

You are treated as a full time employee with the ability to move between teams every 6-12 months which is extremely effective at building a wide range of skills and crucially building connections across the business which will help bridge gaps between teams.
Only missing 5 stars as some sites are restrictive with which sites they will allow their graduates to have a placement, which reinforces divides between manufacturing sites and engineering offices. This feels counterproductive to breaking down a siloed workforce which has historically been a problem for the company. Manufacturing and engineering could both benefit greatly from exchanging graduates more regularly.

Again this is a big source of inconsistency, different cohort leads (early careers managers) seem to follow completely different standards in a way that is never outlined. With that said, they definitely care for the graduates well being and are open to having a conversation, even if sometimes they are difficult to contact.
But I and others have often got the sense that they are not entirely sure on what is available to graduates especially in conversations on placements, fuel reimbursement, training opportunities, holiday structure, etc. Again this likely goes back to not having clear rules and rights of each different stream but some cohort leads seem to better understand (and be open with) the differences than others.
I am yet to hear from a fellow graduate that their line managers in placements have been anything other than completely supportive, the general company culture is great.

Early starts ~7am for my placements so far have meant some adjustment in sleep cycle but I have never been 'voluntold' to work overtime, or stay for a bit longer after work, or been hounded outside of working hours.
I think this is one of the best things about my graduate scheme compared to others I have seen from friends. JLR has been extremely good at maintaining consistent work hours as well as occasionally offering overtime in a clearly optional manner.

The culture is great; the business, from the top down, is clearly pushing to be more inclusive and positive. There are some still sticking to the 'old' way of working who are generally more argumentative and less collaborative but they are firmly in the minority.

Seems about at the level one would expect for a modern company of its size. More could be done to reach sites outside of Gaydon and Whitley.

Yes

Large company with lots of opportunity for growth, solid culture and exciting work that feels meaningful.

The expectations of my day to day work was about what was expected. The only difference is that a big point was made during recruitment and welcome events of the opportunities to move around within the company during the graduate scheme and explore different areas on placements. I have not found this to be the case for my stream although I know that those in different pathways have had that opportunity and I think it was a decently large part of the draw to me and my colleagues on the scheme.