Undergraduate Blog

My placement year as Business and Marketing Assistant at Lubrizol

By Jack Wignall, BA Business Management with Employment Experience

The benefits of doing a placement year

Sheffield University Management School offer students the opportunity to undertake a placement year as part of your degree and I would recommend it to everyone! I have just come back from completing my Placement Year at Lubrizol, a chemical additive company, where I was a Business and Marketing Assistant. I always knew I wanted to do a placement year and this was part of the reason I came to Sheffield. I found the experience invaluable and have already seen the benefits since returning to University for my final year.

It helps when applying for graduate jobs

Having work experience alongside a degree is extremely useful when it comes to applying for graduate jobs. This is because employers are looking for someone who stands out and having the workplace knowledge and experience is priceless nowadays, especially when securing a good job is harder than ever before.

A chance to use your theoretical knowledge in practical situations

Doing a placement year gave me the chance to convert the theoretical knowledge from the course into practical experiences. This was very helpful during my placement as I was able to see how my degree was relevant to real life circumstances. The other benefit is that on the return to University you can do the reverse by using practical experiences in a theoretical context in your final year modules. Going forward, these are all great experiences that can be used in the application process for jobs post-uni as well as in the job itself.

You develop transferable skills

The experiences I had during my placement year have helped me to develop many key skills, including communication, IT literacy, time management and organisational skills. These were developed through responsibilities such as dealing with emails, using Microsoft Excel and arranging meetings. I also had to deliver several presentations through the year, most notably at a European Sales meeting in Hamburg. On top of this, the year has also helped me gain new skills that I didn’t have previously such as how to behave in a professional working environment.

Growing as a person

What I will take away most from my placement year was the fact I felt I matured during my time at work. Being in a position where I was working using my own initiative amongst professionals in a multinational company made me feel like I was a part of something bigger. The responsibilities I was given aided this as I didn’t feel like a student, but was valued as an actual employee. Away from the work, I felt I grew as a person by being independent – living in my own flat and organising all factors of my life that a ‘grown-up’ would have to do in the real world.

My year at the University of Amsterdam

By Charlie Nock, International Business Management

Welcome to my blog everybody! I’m Charlie, an International Business Management student who is extremely fortunate in being able to spend this year at the University of Amsterdam.

I had chosen the university based on previous visits to the city, where I thought to myself, naively, that I could see myself settling in to the ebbs and flows of Dutch life. I quickly learnt that that there’s never a spare second in which you can actually be settled in Amsterdam. Instead, you have to don your glamorously shabby city bike and explore as much of the city’s offerings as possible. The culture shock wasn’t as big as it would be in many other cities; but having the national cuisine be fried cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise lathered chips was a shock I think anyone would welcome.

I was anxious about being a fresher again and equally frustrated to be missing out on second year in Sheffield, but the international students are all in the same boat – mostly Masters or exchange students who just want to enjoy their year away. I regrettably chose not to take part in the International Students’ Week (ISN), luckily I was able to meet people through my flatmates’ groups but I would definitely recommend anyone going abroad to secure a place with their ISN as it seemed a great way to find cool new places and meet new people.

I instead spent my first week with friends from home, or on my own exploring the city by bike – I took the ferry to the Noord of the city (see the windmill pictures) and around the various parks of the city – everywhere is so flat and chilled out that you can literally cycle anywhere in the city in under an hour and sweat free.

Acc Tourist ommodation can be hard to come by and expensive and I did have a questionable experience upon moving in, but I managed to secure a central, canal side apartment in a student building for a similar price to Endcliffe. Being close to town and the university is a huge help, especially as some of my classes don’t finish until 9 at night, but friends further out seem to be really enjoying their respective setups. The course started very early, on September 2nd, and the semester is divided into 3 blocks with 6 exam periods. Reading is surprisingly intensive and there is a big emphasis on presentations and involvement in seminars.

My first set of exams start next week, but the reward of spending your down time in one of the coolest cities in the world makes this a small price to pay.

What is Enactus?

By Nathan Allaby

You probably haven’t heard of Enactus before, and neither had I. Although Enactus is actually an absolutely massive nonprofit social enterprise, operating in 36 different countries and over 1700 universities worldwide. The organisation creates a platform for entrepreneurial students to create community development projects both locally and internationally. In addition to these projects, regional, national and international competitions are run annually, in which Enactus teams from around the world showcase their work to a board of corporate executives. Enactus Sheffield has a fantastic track record in these competitions, taking second place at nationals for the past 9 years and winning in 2010 and 2014.

What you will do in Enactus Sheffield

There are two broad types of projects at Enactus Sheffield. Social Projects are those that aim to improve the lives of those in need in a sustainable and effective way, whilst Commercial Projects are separate businesses run in order to fund the Social Projects. At the moment I am working in a commercial programme called “The One Project,” where we sell mineral water to local cafes and establish marketing campaigns to increase awareness of water sanitation issues in parts of Africa. This involves meeting once a week on Wednesday afternoons, where our team members share their independent progress during the week and also discuss different selling strategy ideas collaboratively.

Outcomes and Skills

This project has significantly developed my confidence and presentation skills as I was given the opportunity to meet with potential clients and pitch our product. In addition to this, it is rare to be able to have full control over the running of a business but to also have a support network available at the same time. At the moment, I am in the sales team of “The One Project”, however there are also great promotion prospects, and starting second year I hope to be leading my own smaller project. There are also many positions available on the committee including roles such as Financial Director and Head of Media Relations. Therefore, whatever your particular skill set is, you’ll be able to find a role that you can enjoy and excel in.

Living at home during university

By Emily Beatson, BA International Business Management with Employment Experience

When applying to university, unlike a lot of my friends who were looking for the furthest place to get away from their parents, I considered living at home. I applied for places where I would be too far away to commute but also applied to the University of Sheffield where commuting would be possible and I could live at home. I live around 15 miles away, which is a 30-40 minute drive depending on traffic or a 45-minute train journey.

During first year, I mostly got the train to Sheffield and then walked up to the university. If it was raining, I would treat myself to a luxurious trip on the SuperTram up to the University stop. I underestimated how much walking I would be doing in first year, but it kept me fit and I had plenty of playlists I could listen to whilst walking back and forth daily. I never felt unsafe walking through Sheffield, even in the dark, and it was a great way to notice little cafes and new restaurants as I was walking past.

Since then, I have done a year abroad where I lived on campus and we had free campus shuttle buses and I have also done a placement year where I drove every day. Safe to say I’ve become a little lazy to do so much walking. I’m now in my final year and do things a little differently. If I’m only in for an hour, I’ll drive up to university and usually park outside the Management School on Crookesmoor Road, 70p for an hour… bargain! I’m still scared of parallel parking how

ever so always aim for a space at the end. If I’m in for longer than that, I scrounge a lift to Sheffield Business Park/Advanced Manufacturing Park, just off the Parkway on the way into Sheffield, with either my parents or boyfriend who both work there and then I hop on a bus that takes me straight to university. I use First buses as they offer students a weekly pass for £7. I then take the same bus home at the end of the day and get a lift home.

People assume that you miss out on a lot of university life when living at home, I’d disagree. I got the chance to study abroad in Hong Kong for a year, so that definitely gave me a real experience of student living. Other than that, I have made plenty of friends on my course in Sheffield who would be more than happy to offer me a sofa to crash on after a night out and I still get involved in going out for meals and casual drinks. Also, not having the ability to sneak back home to bed in between lectures forced me to go to the library and do my work, so I often get everything done during the day and have less to do in the evening. Not to mention the free laundry, food and wifi, plus I still get to see my two Labradors and cat at the end of the day!

Part-time work alongside studying

By Saad Khawaja, BA Business Management

Part-time jobs are a great way to earn some extra money, gain work experience and make new friends while you are at University. They offer another social element to life, where you’re not only building up your transferable interpersonal skills, but also meeting other students who are working in a similar capacity. Plus, there’s the financial independence!

It is possible to do a part time job whilst studying. However, we all need to remember that our studies are our first and foremost priority, so part-time work comes second.

For international students, our visa states that we can work no more than 20 hours per week. However, the university recommends that students work no more than 16 hours a week in order to be able to prioritise their academics and strike a balance between studying and working. For over seas students, the first thing to the route of finding a part-time job includes applying for, and obtaining a National Insurance Number, which every employer requires before you can start working for them.

The university runs a Careers Service, where experienced career advisors help you with refining your CV, and any other documents that you may need in order to apply for part-time jobs.

Working on part-time jobs provides you something to put on paper-worth for your CV, and provides evidence to employers when applying for graduate jobs and summer internships so that you really stand out from the crowd and have done more than just studying whilst at university. It provides you with an edge and gives you something to speak about in an interview and expand upon how it led up to building your interpersonal skills.

In addition, the Careers Service runs a Skills for Work programme whereby students are encouraged to complete 50 hours’ worth of work experience, upon which the Careers Service provides a student with a Skills for Work Certificate which is endorsed by leading companies and brands such as PwC, BT, The RBS Group, etc.

All in all, it is a great opportunity to be able to work on part-time jobs as they provide you with extra money to fill your pockets for the month. However, care must be taken that you prioritise your academics first over such part-time jobs and don’t let them get in the way of you reaching greater academic heights!

PwC Internship: My first week

By Ash Davies, BA Accounting and Financial Management and Mathematics

Upon joining PwC, I was invited to London for 3 days, where I took part in some induction training with 180 interns from across the UK. The induction was an amazing opportunity to network with other interns and to understand a bit more about PwC and what your internship would involve. The induction also gave me an insight into how much PwC invest into their employees, where all expenses were paid for and every night they would put on different events, including a Partner dinner and there was even a Pimms’s tent!

Apart from the exciting night time events, the induction involved a series of classwork study where all interns are given a laptop and all the software needed to complete an audit for example. After the 3-day induction, I headed back to the office where I was introduced to my team for the next 6 weeks and also I was given more support on how to use the audit systems and more simple tasks such as using the emails system. The exciting part of the day was being shown who my clients were for the next 6 weeks and I have been lucky enough to have been placed on an away client in Birmingham.

I would say something that attracted me to apply to PwC, was the opportunities available to grow in the firm. The opportunities available to you to take part in different areas of the firm are endless and when you join as a graduate you can easily ask to be placed on a client of your choice. Even though I was lucky enough to have an away client in Birmingham, a technology consultancy is flying to South Africa next week for 3 weeks. Only experiencing one week at PwC, it is clear that the opportunities are there and they will let you experience as much as possible with them.

How I became a PwC Intern: The Application Process

By Ash Davies, BA Accounting and Financial Management and Mathematics

Almost a year ago I decided that I wanted to gain some experience in the financial services industry. I recognised that competition for graduate places in the ‘Big Four’ and other financial firms is highly competitive and having that extra edge on other graduates is definitely something I wanted. In early September, I started to research many firms which specialised in finance and accountancy. My research led me to understand a lot more about PwC and the several different routes you can take in their firm.

Around November, I began my application process for the PwC Assurance Internship where the process takes around 3 months as there are 5 steps which are: application, logical & numerical tests, a telephone interview, an assessment centre and a final partner interview.

I fully researched PwC, looking into their values, services, clients and more simple things such as how long the internship is (which some people forget). Another important thing I would definitely recommend is to research into recent financial news on the FT, as one of the questions could be related to recent financial news and how PwC could help the situation. After the telephone interview you are invited to an assessment centre for a series of different exercises, where you have to pass all of them. The day can be quite tiring but PwC do support you throughout the day and if you have any questions, just ask! After the assessment centre, I went through a final partner interview in your chosen office, where it was more a casual chat than an interview. The final interview is a short discussion about why you would like to join PwC and a little bit more about yourself outside of your degree.

After such a lengthy process, I am proud to say I have been successful in securing a place on the internship and I will give you an update how my first week is going soon.

Top Tips – Things to do before applying:

Research PwC and the professional services they provide
Practise the numerical and logical tests and use websites such as Assessment Day to help you get through.
Research financial markets and current financial affairs.
Get involved in as much as possible at University – it allows you talk about a lot in your interviews!
Be patient as they have over 8000 applications for around 300 places!

A Student in the Summer: Finance Internship at Santander UK

Robbie Bailey

Reflections on my Internship

I am a few weeks into my internship so I thought now would be a good time to reflect on why I chose to apply for the scheme and what my time here has been like so far!

I am doing a Finance Internship at Santander UK and I am based in Santander House in Milton Keynes.

Whilst working as a Student Ambassador at the Management School, I heard many of the older ambassadors emphasising the benefits of getting real world work experience alongside my degree. I decided that I wanted to do a summer internship as it allowed me to get this vital experience without having to take a full year out of my studies. I then applied to a number of banks and financial institutions and worked my way through a lot of online applications and assessments. This is a long-winded process that can be very disheartening when your application is rejected but if you persevere and learn from your feedback then it is possible to get the opportunities that are out there. After multiple online tests and a telephone interview, I was invited to an assessment centre in Santander’s Milton Keynes office. This was the first assessment centre I had done and it was very tough but my hard work paid off and I got the job!

My programme runs for 10 weeks and I am working in the Provisions team. The easiest way to describe what my team does would be that we decide how much money to set aside every year to cover the losses that occur when people can’t pay their loans or mortgages. This area requires a lot of analysis and we use a number of sophisticated models on a daily basis to get the best estimates of how much money the bank are going to lose. Currently, I am focussing mainly on mortgage provisioning and I am doing a lot of analytical work, which means a lot of Microsoft Excel!

I knew that the work would be very Excel focussed so, prior to starting my internship, I completed a free online Excel training course provided by Lynda.com via the University of Sheffield website. I strongly recommend this as it has really helped me to quickly get to grips with the advanced Excel techniques used by my team every day.

During the induction process in the first week of the programme, I was told that interns also had to take part in a Charity Challenge. This involves working alongside other interns to raise as much money as possible for Santander UK’s charity partners: Age UK and Barnardo’s. I am the team leader of my team and we are currently in the process of organising our fundraising activities. We plan to have regular food sales in the office including cakes, samosas and sweets. Our main fundraiser will be a Quiz Night later in the programme and we hope to raise around £600-£700 which will then be matched by Santander UK.

Last week, I was invited by another Finance department to join them on their annual community day. Each Santander UK employee must do at least one community day a year. Santander support worthy causes in the local area by donating money and providing staff to undertake any major tasks. Last week we painted a fence at a local primary school which was a great experience as I got to meet new people from the Finance team and it was also very rewarding to see how happy the teachers were with our work!

I have really enjoyed the start of my internship as it has allowed me to experience life in real world finance. The charitable elements of the programme have also been fantastic! I will be writing another blog post towards the end of my internship to reflect on the programme in more detail. Thank you for reading!

My Placement Experience at Boeing Defence

By Alex Martinsmith

Placement Overview

First of all, an introduction to the placement scheme itself. Known officially as a ‘Degree with Employment Experience’, a placement is taken in between the second and third year of study. The placement is a year-long and usually start at the beginning of July at an organisation of your choice.

My placement was at Boeing Defence, a UK subsidiary of The Boeing Company, the largest aerospace company in the world. I was based in Bristol all year but had the opportunity to travel to other sites like London and RAF bases across the country. There was a huge portfolio of products and services, split into 4 main categories:

Rotorcraft – Selling military helicopters like the Chinook and Apache
Fixed Wing – Selling military aircraft like the C17 Globemaster and P-8 Maritime Patrol
Information Systems – Providing software to the MOD as well as crime fighting applications to UK police forces and security agencies like the National Crime Agency
Training and Government Services – Providing military simulators and solutions as well as government consultancy.

What’s involved?

In terms of university work there’s very little involved. There are two placement reports you need to finish by the end of the year and the potential to present what you learnt to other students and staff when you return. Other than that and two placement visits, you’re left to get on with your day job. Every role differs but placement students are never burdened with the tea making. I had some serious responsibility over the course of the year, working on numerous bids worth upwards of £200m. I even wrote the proposal for a £350,000 opportunity at one point!

Most companies have a structured placement scheme. You’ll get to experience a lot more of the business than some permanent employees do; I worked in a department that meant I got to experiment with work on all the four business categories as well as travel, attend industry days and conferences. Companies spend a lot of time and effort helping you develop and there’s a lot of opportunities to not only boost your CV but build your personal skillset and prepare yourself for a career.

What do you get out of it?

Aside from the obvious points like a brilliant looking CV with some strong experience, there are plenty of important things you gain. Firstly, you develop yourself as a person. Sounds quite cheesy but it’s really easy to forget about this: managing my time both in and out of work, motivating myself and boosting my confidence in the workplace are all skills I never really thought about until I began my placement. They’re really useful to take back to university and will be even more useful in my graduate job.

Secondly, it can be incredibly helpful for planning the next couple of years. Placement drastically improved my work ethic which is easily translated back into my final year which (hopefully) means better grades! It should help you plan for what sort of career or job role you want and in the ever expanding market of graduate schemes this should not be overlooked. It can be quite a chore sifting through the thousands of employers and roles and if you have a vague idea it’s a big bonus. My final point is the value it places on University. I’m going to take full control of my final year, take on every opportunity and make the most out of my time; something I probably wouldn’t have done if I’d have just gone straight to my final year.

What to do now?

If you’re about to start university then I’d try to make a decision now. I know it’s a difficult commitment but it’ll make the application process a lot easier. If you don’t want to decide now, I’d probably say that you have until the end of first year to say yes or no. In the interim, I’d go and see the Employability Hub and have a chat with both your family and personal tutor to help you decide.

Summer at the end of first year is the important period; you’ll need to make a list (a spreadsheet is handy) of the companies you want to apply to and some links/emails/telephones/people that you’ll need to go through when it comes to getting in contact. Secondly, you’ll need to update your CV. If you’re really organised you could do it in your academic year and get advice from the management school but don’t worry if you haven’t. Read posts on how to stand out and ensure you tick all those keywords off your list. Finally, vet your social media. Employers are using this as a way of choosing interns more and more. Make sure Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. are all acceptable and build yourself a LinkedIn profile if you don’t already have one.

Final step is to get applying! Attend some of the assessment centre and interview help days run by the Employability Hub if you aren’t sure what to expect. If you want any help or inspiration, get in contact: amartinsmith1@sheffield.ac.uk .

Life in Sheffield

By Saad Khawaja

Flying away thousands of miles from my home country to study abroad seemed pretty nerve wrecking, but Sheffield as a city not only helped me overcome all my fears and distress, but it grew to be my home. Sheffield is considered as one of the most friendliest, safest and cheapest City’s in England. Living costs are 10% lower than the UK national average! To back it up by facts, Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2015 resulted in it being first for social life and community atmosphere!

The greenery throughout the City is breathtaking! Sheffield is known to be the greenest city in the UK, from the City Centre that has the Winter Garden, being the largest temperate Glass house in Europe all the way up to Peak District National park. Peak District is a stunning country side, with many magnificent sceneries all over the National Park. The best part, its only 10 minutes away from the City!

If you like shopping, Sheffield city centre has plenty of stores, with diverse brands that fulfil all your shopping needs. However, if you have trouble finding any store, just take a tram to Meadowhall Shopping Centre, that’s not more than 10 minutes away from the City Centre. Meadowhall is one of the UK’s largest Malls, with around 300 stores, that surely satisfy all your shopping preferences.

In relation to living, there’s a wide range of student accommodations present around the University. After their first year, students usually tend to live around the Broomhill and Crooksmore area, that are within 10 minutes on average from the University. In addition to that, the rent is quite cheap, which as a student I find quite feasible. Being a hilly city, some houses up on the hills have gorgeous views of Sheffield. There’s nothing better than just relaxing next to your window and looking at the scenery after a long day. However, if someone is looking for apartments, there’s a wide range of them available in the City Centre, within 10-15 minutes from the University, at very affordable prices!

People looking for some good music are surely in the right city. Sheffield’s Tram Lines Festival is Sheffield’s own 3 day music festival, which is not only attended by thousands of people, but is really cheap compared to other huge music festivals! A variety of musical genres and being cheap are what students are normally looking for! Sheffield is quite famous for its student night-life as well. Some clubs and pubs have been present for decades, and are well known all over the UK!
It seemed pretty scary moving so far away from my home, but Sheffield as a City has surely been a blessing! Being low in cost, friendly, a student city with two universities, and relatively small but with all the amenities you need, Sheffield is an ideal city for students and I’m glad I chose it.