Third year BBA student Caitlin tells us about her experience in finding and securing a placement:
“The BBA (BSc Business) course requires you to undertake two sixth month placements within the four-year course. I’m now in my third year, and currently applying to placements for my second placement period. I completed my first placement at Ti Insight, the leading provider of market research solutions to the global logistics industry, a small company based in Bath.
To be honest, finding a placement was significantly harder than I expected! Learning how to complete cover letters, online tests, how to interview well, how to present over Zoom during interview, it all seemed daunting – and definitely took some getting used to. I was very grateful to the Placements Team for setting up practice interviews. For some people on my course, it was their first experience of any type of interview. I’d really recommend getting into MyFuture. There are so many good resources on there, with specific advice on how to write cover letters for specific industries, interview skills and much more. After what feels like hours of staring at the first line of your cover letter, some inspiration or advice on how to approach your cover letter is truly appreciated!
BBA’s tend to be notorious for heading off to London for placement, and this is where I felt slightly left out. I had chosen to stay in Bath due to being on a Dual Career Scholarship for Netball, amongst other reasons. I did begin to question my decision, many people around me were securing placements with huge name firms, and I began to wonder whether I had ‘shot myself in the foot’ in terms of my career development. It turns out, I couldn’t be further from the truth. My placement at Ti Insight came with an abundance of autonomy and authority. Within weeks, I found myself managing my own projects and adding real contribution to their marketing strategy. I was trusted to work independently on re-branding and controlling their company Instagram page in order to focus on a more modern way of marketing. It may sound cliché, but I truly learnt so much on my placement experience. It isn’t about which company you’re working for, but instead how you apply yourself. I threw myself into the job and asked to get involved in pretty much every project and event that was going on. Ti Insight was based within the logistics sector, and quite frankly before I started the placement, I had little knowledge on what logistics even really was. It is important to be open to opportunities, as I can now demonstrate to employers that I am able to learn quickly and adapt into work within new sectors; a skill that is really important.
My main take away from my placement was that it is up to you in regard to what you get out of your placement. Whether that means asking to get involved, to attend training events or even to network with employees across the company. The process of finding a placement can be draining, and sometimes come with a lot of rejection, but it is truly so rewarding. I learnt so much about myself during my time on placement, and being able to transfer my University knowledge into the workplace demonstrated how key our learnings are here at University.”
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