My NTU story: How doing a work placement at university helped me grow professionally and personally

Hey everyone!

My name is Arya, and I was a BA (Hons) Fashion Management student here at NTU. To introduce myself a little bit more – I left my hometown Mumbai, India at the age of 17, amidst a pandemic, to pursue my passion for fashion.

I remember during 9^th grade I had started watching the tv show Friends. In the show, there is a character, Rachel, who loves and embodies fashion and eventually works for Ralph Lauren. This sparked an interest. “That’s what I want to do!”

Now, let’s cut to my second year when I was trying to find placements. As soon as I started my second year in October, I was exposed to all kinds of placement roles and which companies offer them, where are they based, what kind of responsibilities do they entail and so forth.

My course team was extremely helpful and supportive in helping me navigate placement opportunities. I used to get weekly emails regarding upcoming placement roles and their application deadlines. There was a good mix of roles with diverse brands and retailers, including small independent brands, grocery chains, luxury, sportswear, and high street retailers.

NTU’s Career Fair and Creative’s Fair was especially very helpful to see these brands and retailers in-person, talk to their representatives and understand what roles they offer. I believe this helped me understand a little bit more about their company culture and the kind of “vibe” they have.

My advice would be to think about not only if you are good fit for them but if they a good fit for you and your personal goals. The career’s fair is a great place to consider different companies which you might have not thought of working for before. They can get very busy and crowded, so my advice would be to go to as early as possible and talk to as many people as you can. Attend the careers fair panels and 1-1’s, they are very helpful in understanding different career paths, how to navigate early days of your career and what the companies are looking for.

Another thing that really helped my application process was CV and Cover Letter support from both my course and NTU Employability. I have pestered the Employability Team countless times to refine my CV and get additional advice on how to make it more enticing to companies (so, thank you team! You’ve been super wonderful).

By December and January, I’d sent applications to Gymshark, ME+EM, Marks and Spencer’s, Nike, Urban Outfitters, and the list goes on. But Ralph Lauren was always the dream.

LinkedIn became my secret weapon, as I connected with tons of people in my dream department and those who were responsible for hiring placement students. Now, this may sound crazy but I determined to make my dream come true.

Finally, I applied in January when the roles went live on inPlace. I then got shortlisted for an assessment centre in February and waited a whole painfully anxious 2.5 weeks to get the role of Buying Admin Assistant. I was super ecstatic!

I started my role in September 2022, and I vividly remember my first day at work. I was super excited, hyper and couldn’t believe I was there. I also received my work laptop and the office lanyard with my picture – it all felt very exhilarating. I was positioned in the Childrenswear DTC (Direct to Consumer)/FP (Full-Price) Team, which was primarily based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dream job, yes, but there were still challenges! As an international student, finding a place in London that fit my budget expectations and was available for just a year was challenging. I ended up staying in Nottingham and commuting, but my team was amazingly flexible.

Yet, it was super-challenging to work with a team that was based in a whole another country than me. I was constantly on my laptop (over Microsoft Teams) regardless of if I was in the office or at home. Nevertheless, I would not trade this experience for anything else.

I have learned so much over the year and it has helped me grow both professionally and personally. My week would usually kick off with CSW Trade Meeting where merchandising and buying teams got together to discuss the last week’s performance. We discussed things such as, what are the top 10 styles that performed well, what are the best-sellers, what are the profit margins on them, how do they compare to last year’s best-sellers of this week, is anything delayed in deliveries and a lot more.

After the meeting, I would update the season based buysheet with any new styles, add and drops, changes in quantity/prices, etc. Depending upon the time of the season, I would help the team with building the new season range or working on the Licensees. Managing the Licensees was one of my biggest responsibilities, as it included to work on everything from start to finish – selecting product range to raising final purchase orders.

Throughout my experience, I also honed my product development and analytical skills through responsibilities such as, conducting product performance analysis, competitor and trend analysis, developing a highly commercial product line alongside my team, working with external vendors and much more.

I also enhanced my technical skills through systems such as GFE+, SAP, MicroStrategy and especially Excel (I am somewhat an expert now). Since, my direct team was based in Switzerland, I had to learn not only how to work efficiently but also build connections with people all across the world. Therefore, throughout my time at Ralph, I have definitely honed my organisational, adaptability, team working and time-management skills.

I would highly recommend you to do a placement year (depending on your course) it doesn’t matter if the placement year is one year or three months long. It builds your personality and professional skills.

Top tips

Here are my top five tips and advice:

1. Be passionate and enthusiastic –If you are genuinely passionate about a role, brand, or particular aspect of the industry, it will eventually translate in the way you talk and everything you do.
2. Stay organised – There will be many roles you apply for, so make sure to keep track of the applications using an Excel sheet with all the details – date, location, duration, salary, follow-up notes, details of hiring recruiter/hiring manager, etc
3. CUSTOMISE, CUTOMISE, CUSTOMISE – Always tailor your CV and cover letter specific to the job and company you are applying for. Trust me, this goes a very long way and makes you stand out.
4. Network – Visit career fairs, join industry panels, connect with people on LinkedIn. Actively reach out to the people in the field/role of your interest, ask them what they like about the role/company, what keeps them motivated, what advice they would give to someone who is at the start of their career, if they would have done anything differently.
5. Stay informed – Keep yourself updated with the current news revolving the company and the industry you want to work in.

Lastly, don’t be afraid. You have got this more than you think you do. Passion and hard work can take you incredible places!!!