It’s impossible to make an informed decision about your future, without the right information. In this section our people talk honestly and frankly about their experiences at Ford – and why you should join.

"From day one with Ford, it was clear that I had an opportunity to play a personal and key role in the Company's future. I joined the Company on the graduate HR Programme in 2003 and since then I've had assignments in Employee Relations, HR Operations and am currently working in a specialist Compensation and Benefits role."

"My university degree wasn't in an HR related discipline, but there was a good level of in-house training and support available to make sure that I was able to quickly start making a contribution to the business. I was also encouraged to pursue a Company funded distance learning course so that I could become a fully qualified HR professional though the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. I must admit that I wasn't overjoyed at the thought of yet more studying straight after university, but the fairly flexible structure of the course and the direct relevance of the modules to my job made it relatively painless and gave me much greater confidence in my ability once I'd completed it."

"It's no secret that the automotive industry is a very challenging one, so there's no way you can work here and get away with giving less than 100%. But that's increased the opportunities for HR to act as a real Business Partner, to help guide and shape the Company into one that will come out on top. I've worked on restructuring, change management, retention, personnel development, dispute resolution - the list goes on and it's this variety that makes every day different and keeps me interested and engaged. Also, many of the HR positions have some level of European responsibility so I've been able to visit Germany and Sweden so far, and some of the Eastern European countries are likely destinations during the next year or so."

"I've been impressed by the team spirit of the HR function since I've been here. We all know that there are lots of challenges to face, but we do so together, and take shared credit for our successes. In any HR position with Ford you quickly realise that good relationships are vital, both with your customer groups and your colleagues, so if you work hard at these you're half way there. And that makes Monday mornings much easier to look forward to…"

"I joined Ford Purchasing 2 years ago. I am a business analyst, working in Purchasing Information Management System team (PIMS). It has been an exciting area to work in, as we use cutting edge e-purchasing technologies to continuously improve and enhance the efficiency of all the purchasing processes."

"The work in PIMS is project based and incredibly challenging, so far I have worked on a variety of projects. Each project has involved a different area of the e-purchasing business, and has included Supply Base Management, Emerging Market Sourcing, and eBusiness solutions etc. This has enabled me to build my skills and gain a solid understanding of the different purchasing initiatives and corporate strategies within Ford."

"New recruits will have a chance to gain responsibility at an early stage. For example, within a few months of joining Ford I was responsible for leading the business side of the design and implementation of a new tracking and reporting application for emerging market sourcing. At the end of the project I had the chance to present the application to the purchasing executive director. I know people just don’t get this chance in other companies."

"I also like the fact that you will always get a chance to experience different roles within Purchasing. I am soon to start a new job as a commodity buyer. This means that I will be working in a cross functional team with representatives from Finance, Cost estimating, Purchasing, Engineering and Suppliers with a goal to make a positive contribution to Ford's bottom line."

"Support and help is always around. I have a weekly one-to-one session with my line manager to discuss any problems and issues. I also have a mentor who gives me guidance and help from time to time."

"The training in Ford is extremely impressive. There is an online training catalogue from which employees can enrol onto courses according to their personal development needs. Ford is supporting me with my CIPS (Charter Institute Purchase & Supply) study. You really feel that the company is investing in you."

"Diversity is a very important part of the Ford culture. Different skills, backgrounds, and cultures are valued and everyone is encouraged to contribute to the success of the company. Knowing that my family is back in China, my department arranged a team event in London China Town to celebrate the Chinese New Year with me. Ford is such a great place to work!"

"I joined as a graduate direct from university nearly 10 years ago and have never looked back. Since my first day I have been given the opportunity to grow and develop my career across a wide range of disciplines."

" My group is responsible for the development of diesel engine hardware and the calibration of the engine management system which controls these components. The work is highly technical, often demanding but also very rewarding. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a product that you worked on driving around on the public road."

"The benefits of working for a large company are numerous. As well as being provided with state of the art testing facilities at our Development and research centre in Essex I have had the opportunity to work at some of the company's more "extreme" testing sites around the globe. Whether it is the freezing arctic or a hot desert environment we have to make sure your car will operate in some of the harshest environments on the planet."

"At the moment I am working on class leading technology to ensure that our future products deliver cleaner emissions with better fuel economy and industry leading levels of refinement. The challenge is there to constantly improve our products and reduce the development time to market which keeps you on your toes."

"If you like a challenge and can put the effort in the rewards are there for the taking."

"My experience within Ford Motor Company while not unique has certainly afforded me an opportunity like none other; I started work in Ford Financial as a project manager and had the opportunity to coordinate the launch of enhancements to existing applications across 19 European locations. As co-ordinator, I became the bridge between the users, vendor and the technical department that implemented the launch, coming straight from university, this was quite a challenge but the atmosphere within the company made it easy to ask for and receive help when required."

"My degree was in computer science and the move into a technical role was a logical one for me. In my current team, my duties include database administrator, SQL programmer, HTML developer, VBA developer and Business objects universe developer amongst others. In addition to my primary role I was able to take on other challenges like the Systems Control Review Process for my team, I trained for and received accreditation as an IT security and control application inspector and carried out an inspection as part of that process."

"It hasn't been all work and no play; I also took a year off work to have twins. I expected to find it difficult to get the company to accommodate my particular needs on my return; actually, I didn't expect to be able to return to full time employment even though I wanted to. Ford has mechanisms to cater for instances such as mine and, along with my manager I was able to work out a suitable roster that allowed me to set my work times and also to work from home some of the time. As a result I was able to return to full time employment as soon as I was ready."

"Working for Ford Motor Company afforded me the opportunity to work in diverse roles and to develop myself in the direction that best suits me. Looking back on my time here, the difficulty was in deciding which career path I wanted to thread, once that decision was made, following through was quite easy."

"I have been working at Ford for almost 6 years. In that time I have had the opportunity to work in three very different areas of the IT department."

"When I joined as a graduate my first role was as an analyst in the Materials, Planning and Logistics IT department. This was a challenging role in the thick of the manufacturing environment supporting systems that handle parts and vehicle distribution across the UK with a small team of technical experts. From the very first day I was involved in face-to-face meetings with senior business management, my customers, working with them to resolve business process and system related issues and also understand their requirements for enhancements to the systems."

"After 18 months I moved into my second role working in Marketing and Sales. I worked as a project manager on a dealer facing application. This was a very different experience to being in a plant. I visited local dealerships to understand how the application was being used. I was responsible for project managing the development and delivery of new functionality within the application and had a team of developers working for me on my projects."

"I have been in my current role for nearly 2 years and am responsible for project managing the rollout of an application across all the customer call centres in Europe for Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo. This has been a great opportunity for me to work on a cross-brand European-wide project and is very interesting working with the different cultures in both the companies and countries."

"The responsibility you have for both people and projects at an early stage in your career can be quite challenging, although Ford does provide extensive support networks and training to help you make the most of these opportunities. I have participated in shadowing and mentoring programs and have also been involved in the extensive women's network in the IT function. I have completed professional project management training and qualifications providing me with the specific skills I need to complete my job to be the best of my ability as well as training at a personal development level."

"I feel that I have been able to make a significant impact to the company with the projects and systems I have been responsible for. This really is a company where you get a high level of responsibility from day one with many and varied opportunities to increase your knowledge, skills and experience!"