Full name: Laura Naylor
Year of graduation: 2015
Business department worked in: Human Resources
Length of placement: One year
Toyota Blog: Hi Laura, tell us a bit about your role within Toyota.
Laura Naylor: My day-to-day is never really the same. I manage a variety of tasks and projects including stakeholder queries, coordinating staff training and development activities, organising staff engagement forums, student recruitment and much more. My role interacts with people from the whole business. It can be demanding at times but it keeps me on my toes.
TB: What projects have you worked on and particularly enjoyed?
LN: Revising our Homeworking Policy. It was interesting to see how the policy would impact on each department and consider each department’s needs. I enjoyed getting an understanding of how it all fitted together.
TB: What have you learnt during your time at Toyota?
LN: How to effectively manage my time.
TB: How do you think you have changed during your time at Toyota?
LN: I’m more mature in how I approach things; I plan ahead rather than rushing into a task. Because of the nature of my role, I have to speak to people across the business, and this has made me so much more confident – outside of work as well as inside.
TB: What has surprised you most about your placement?
LN: The culture at Toyota; it’s really friendly and welcoming. I was expecting an office environment to be very stuffy but everyone is easy to work with.
You get so many chances to develop your knowledge across the business, not just in your department. I recently participated in a bike ride from TGB’s office near Epsom to the European HQ in Brussels, Belgium!
TB: Would you do your placement again?
LN: Yes.
TB: What would you say to someone who may be considering a placement with Toyota?
LN: Although it’s hard to envisage getting up to work at 9-5:30pm every day and it’s more appealing to live the student lifestyle for another year, a placement year is definitely worth it. I’ve developed so many new skills and have been able to put into practice the theory I’ve learned at university, which I know will make me more employable when I graduate.
Where next?
Apply for a student placement with Toyota
See also:
Applications open for Toyota Student Placement Scheme
What is it like to complete a student placement with Toyota?
