Product and Pricing Co-ordinator Review

I work as a product and pricing co-ordinator in the aftersales department. My daily tasks include dealing with any queries retailers and suppliers have, placing orders, processing credit/debits, and providing support intertanlly through our aftersales district managers and wholesale regional parts managers. I also get involved and take on any any ad-hoc queries that my managers or other members of the department may ask me to do which keeps me very busy.

I have learnt new skills at college from gaining my NVQ level 3 in Business and am now currently working towards my Higher National Certificate. I have developed my communication skills by regularly speaking to retailers and suppliers on the phone. This has also improved my confidence when speaking to people as high up as director level. I have attended internal training courses such as presentation and excel training which has developed my skills even further.

I really enjoy my programme as I am developing my skills every day as well as improving my knowledge and understanding of business. It has met my expectations well so far as I have gained some good qualifications and excellent experience which I was hoping for. I like how I feel part of a team when working in a culture of mutual respect.

I feel valued by Vauxhall because everyone treats each other with respect at work and each employee is friendly. Also I feel like I am making a difference to the company by doing my job role. My manager has got me involved in interesting projects which I enjoy such as doing the marketing work for the new trade club bulbs and wiper blades. This made me get external recognition as I sent it out to all of our retailers.

My apprenticeship programme is fairly structured as we study one day a week at college to achieve our qualifications. There are apprentice forum meetings where we discuss any problems anyone has and we have been on a few different training courses. These training course have been very beneficial and there is also a controlled assesment plan which each of us have. This is where we set ourselves targets to progress throughout the year and regular meetings are held with my manager to keep track on these.

I receive reasonably good support from my training provider and I know who I need to speak to if I ever had an issue or problem which they will support me to resolve this. The lessons at college are very structured and the tutors are really approachable so I can get help or feedback on my work whenever I need it.

I have received great support from my manager as I know I can speak to them about any problems I have at work. For example, if I am struggling with a certain task he can guide me to overcome the problem and help me do the job correctly. I can also speak to a member of the HR team as they are easy to approach and talk to. Overall, everyone is supportive and willing to help.

My salary at Vauxhall is very good as it meets my costs to do the things I want to do such as socialing with my friends and going out on the weekend. It meets my daily, living and travel costs as well. Overall, my wage meets all my costs which covers all aspects.

There are many opportunities to get involved in outside of work such as charity events and fund raising activity's. For example, Vauxhall allows employees to take one paid day off work to help out in the community which is called doing a CSR day. You can also help out by going to schools/colleges to raise awareness of apprenticeships which I have done from becoming an apprenticeship ambassador.

Yes

I think its a very good company to work for as it allows you to better yourself by developing new skills. Also it offers you great opportunities to progress in your career while working for a well known, large organisation. Also the apprenticeship scheme is really organised and structure to better each individual.

Apply early for the apprenticeship and prepare well for the interview. Try to be organised and confident on the assessment day and make sure you research the company so you have some knowledge beforehand. Also look over some maths and english before the assesment centre test to ensure you are confident on passing.