By Lily Robinson, BA Business Management with Employment Experience
Last year, between my second and third years of study on the BA Business Management course, I decided to take a placement year. I began the application process during the autumn semester in second year. At this stage, I had an idea that I wanted to work in the marketing function, and I found Arla Foods advertisement for a Marketing Assistant on the 
ratemyplacement.com website. The Management School has a dedicated careers service, the Employability Hub, who also advertise placements and they were a great help too.
I knew a placement was right for me as I really wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and try a new challenge. I was a little nervous about leaving Sheffield, moving to Leeds and being without my friends, but I knew I would meet new people and have an exciting experience. If you are unsure which area of business is for you, a placement is a great trial and error year. You can find out if you like your selected discipline and discover if you can see yourself working in that department in your future career.
After the recruitment process, which involved psychometric tests and an assessment centre day, I was offered a placement starting the following July. Arla were a fantastic company to work for, and I was give
n lots of responsibility (real tangible experience not just making tea and photocopying!). I worked on four brands during my time at Arla Foods, who are the UK’s largest dairy company and own brands such as Lurpak and Cravendale.
I ran events, liaised with marketing agencies, helped to create packaging and managed budgets. My proudest achievement was running a stand representing Arla across a whole weekend that had over 90,000 attendees! My family came to support me and my manager was on hand to see my work – the who
le team were really supportive and pleased with my achievement. As well as work, I made loads of new friends in my colleagues. I had my own flat in Leeds and had loads of fun!
My career prospects have benefitted immensely from my placement year as I have tangible experience in marketing. Employers love to see a placement year and it means I have plenty of examples of transferable skills to speak about in graduate interviews. I won’t be as nervous leaving University as I know I can achieve high quality results when I work hard. I have also benefitted academically. Coming back to final year I am so much more focussed and really 
pushing myself. I am appreciating a weekday morning lie in much more now too!
As I mentioned, the Employability Hub are a great source of help. There are also the Placement Ambassadors, a team of students who were on placement last year. They are always on hand to give you advice on the application process and answer any questions you might have from a student perspective.