By Juliet Norreys, BA Business Management with Employment Experience
Undertaking a placement year is an extremely formative period in your university life. Going into my year in industry I was quietly confident in my ability to work as a team, be proactive and manage my time well; all the buzzwords which surround employability and were used in my applications for jobs. Little did I know that my year would completely surpass all expectations of how much I could learn and the extent to which my knowledge was lacking initially in practical workplace skills. The processes that I had taken for granted, such as creating an email that is both appropriate and coherent whilst also being professional and eloquent, was something that I thought I had down to a tee. When arriving at work I quickly learnt how not to write an email and realised how steep of a learning curve it was going to be! With this said, my year was incredible, and the investment in my development was second to none – I learnt more than I ever thought possible and have come out of it with more confidence in my ability to succeed in my graduate role.
Just as I had adjusted to my working life, working 8-6 every day and enjoying the freedom that came with my weekend, it was time to return to Sheffield. Initially, I thought that I would slot seamlessly back into student life; I knew it well and had done it for the 2 years previous. I was faced with a weird feeling of uncertainty; Sheffield itself had stayed the same (apart from the concourse near the Students’ Union finally being finished!), and yet I didn’t feel prepared for switching my ‘academic brain’ back on.
Thankfully, it only took a few days to settle back into my old student life, and I quickly felt like I had never left. The biggest difference I found is the mind-set I have now means that I can’t help but pick apart my modules, reflecting on what I learned on my placement and taking a more analytical/practical stance towards my studies. I am also much more productive with my time; the pattern of working 9 hours a days has become habit, and therefore the days of long lie-ins has ended! With these extra few daylight hours it means that I have more time to give to extracurricular activities, so I have thrown myself back into sport and part-time work. The one piece of advice I would give anyone returning from a year in industry is to create bucket list of all the things you have wanted to experience in Sheffield that you haven’t got around to yet. If you want to try out for a sports team, learn a language, or take part in something fun like Bummit, now is the time to do it! The last year goes incredibly fast and therefore you need to make the most of the time that’s left to enjoy Sheffield and student life in general.