Procurement Finance placement student Review

In this role there are set list of responsibilities that must be carried out at different times of the month. These responsibilities are split amongst different work areas. There will be accountancy based tasks at month end such as preparing journal entries and verifying balances in accounts that you are responsible for. There are a list of reports that you will be generating and as the placement progresses you may also do some analysis of these reports to check for trends that we are expecting, to verify amounts reported and to discover any issues that can cause discrepancies between reports and expectations. Project work is also introduced during the placement, often this is process improvement work, trying to make current processes more efficient or accurate. On a day to day basis you will normally attend on average 3 hours of meetings which are a mix between progress updates with members of the team and informative meetings about current goings on in the company. This job is very independent there is not many collaborative tasks within the initial responsibilities, rather just ensuring that you complete all tasks by the expected time. The team that you work with is remote so most work will be online with limited face-to-face interactions.

With this job being very independent the responsibility to ensure all work is completed falls solely to you, so your time management is important. However most tasks that are completed (excluding reports) are verified/approved by another team member reducing the pressure and impact of any mistakes that are made. In general I would say there is not too much responsibility within this role, especially as the workload is very manageable and responsibilities are slowly increased through out the year.

Greatly improved Excel skills and proficiency.
Better fundamental understanding of accounting principles, especially how they are implemented.
Developed presentation skills, both creating and delivering
Learnt how to use company specific software
Project work has allowed me to improve my teamwork skills, learning how to accommodate others work styles and collaborate on ideas.
Communication has also improved, I am able to express myself much better than before my placement started
My ability to know what questions to ask has also improved, before I always struggled to know what to ask in many situations but that has greatly improved

You will have consistent and regular 1 to 1 meetings with members of the team including your direct manager, this allows you to raise and discuss any concerns or issues you have. There also other networks at the company that will support you in many other areas, such as a mental health support network a new starter network and opportunities to also have a mentor/buddy to help integrate and support you. Overall there is always someone that you will be able to talk to for any issue.

Cummins has an amazing culture, they are very employee focused and really care about all employee's well being. They are very respectful of peoples work life balance and are incredibly flexible with hybrid working meaning that you can tailor your work commitments to suit you, as long as it aligns with your teams expectations. There are also employee resource groups that you can get involved in such as the women's empowerment network and local diversity network. There are many opportunities to get involved in charity projects at the company as well.

I have enjoyed my placement and feel that my soft skills have greatly improved. I have had issues however with feeling like a full member of company, there have been situations where a line between student and full time employee has been made clear. I also have had frustrations at discrepancies between experiences of placements at the company, some will get a better experience than others. This has been very informative in helping me understand what to look for in jobs in the future and what sort of worker I am within a professional setting.

Yes