Tamsin
Fenn

As part of my BA (Hons) Marketing degree at Nottingham Business School, I completed a one-year work placement, which I secured with Aggregate Industries.

Once I began applying for placements, I made use of the Employability Teams services to help with producing a good quality CV and cover letters. The team also helped with mock interviews and provided support with applications. I attended lectures and seminars which aimed to prepare students for the placement application process. As well as this I took full advantage of the other services that the Employability Team provided such as attending placement fairs, mock assessment centre events and ‘Prepare for Placement’ workshops.These opportunities gave me an insight into the recruitment process.

The application process for the placement that I had secured involved submitting my CV and cover letter followed by a telephone interview.

I found the interview questions quite thought provoking at first but i quickly I became more relaxed as the interviewee made the process feel fairly informal. The next stage once passing the telephone interview was a face-to-face interview where I delivered a presentation on a relevant topic.

Whilst on placement, I received a numerous telephone calls from the Employability Team to check that I had completed all of the induction checks the University required and to ensure I had settled in well. I was also allocated a placement tutor who came to visit me on site. My placement tutor met with my manager who openly discussed my progress to date. In addition, I had email contact with tutors to discuss course related information for planning towards my final year and my recall day.

My placement year was an incredible journey. I was able to experience the working environment and built workplace relationships with my colleagues. My placement was with a global company which meant building a good rapport with overseas colleagues was incredibly important.

I used many course related theories learnt in the Research for Marketing module such as structuring questionnaires and phrasing questions appropriately which helped me to create high quality user experience questionnaires.

My placement year was extremely exciting as I was able to attend external work events and test products which I wouldn't have been able to do elsewhere. All of this developed my professional skills and exposed me to a working environment which in turn enhanced my confidence.

By participating in a diverse range of activities, I put my skills and knowledge to the test in different situations. My advice to students considering a placement year would be to get involved in as much as possible. Use your placement to participate in as many activities as you can both inside and outside the workplace to build relationships with colleagues.