When I first started my 12-month placement as a design engineer I remember experiencing a familiar feeling. I was surrounded by industry professionals who, objectively, were more qualified and experienced than I was. I felt out of place. However, the tools and confidence I had gained from the GSP meant that I knew how to cope with this feeling. I really enjoyed my placement year, learning so much and developing my career skills. I worked on a range of projects at various stages of development, which taught me both technical and personal skills. The most exciting aspect was the increased responsibility I gained and the newfound confidence in my work that came with experience. However, being trusted with increasingly critical and complicated tasks wasn\u2019t easy.
No longer feeling like an imposter<\/strong>
I believe that my time with the GSP is a primary reason I was able to adapt and find my place in industry. The networking events, for example, were incredibly impactful. They helped to demystify the stigma around accomplished people. Talking with these individuals at the networking events showed that despite their brilliant accomplishments they were human and like us, and they come from a range of different backgrounds.
This lesson was vital during my placement. The geniuses I saw at work were not infallible and much of their confidence is a product of time and experience. This realisation helped me see them as colleagues and mentors, not intimidating figures. This in turn made asking for help and reaching out to more senior colleagues feel like a natural and necessary aspect of my placement.
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/gsp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/204\/2025\/09\/3P-crowd-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\n(Photo of myself and the company I worked with)<\/p>\r\n
Being confident enough to share my ideas in rooms of unfamiliar experts was a large part of my placement. This was a skill, somewhat unknowingly, that I already had. At every GSP workshop or away day, we weren\u2019t just learning but we were practising. We practise active listening and articulating our thoughts to others. These weren\u2019t immediately obvious skills but they were the most crucial for me when it came to entering the industry. The GSP cohort<\/strong> (Placement Students and Graduates at our leaving event)<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My placement was a great experience, but it didn\u2019t come without its challenges. This blog will explain how the Gold Scholarship Programme (GSP) gave me the confidence and helped me to prepare to overcome challenges, settle into industry and make...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-skills-development","category-work-experience"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/204\/2025\/09\/3P-crowd.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/undergraduate-scholarships-and-bursaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The hidden skills<\/strong>
While formal GSP workshops on writing an impactful CV or understanding leadership styles were valuable, another aspect of the programme made an even bigger impact on me. It was the development that takes place in and amongst the official agenda. I found value even in the refreshment breaks and the small group discussions that took place during our GSP sessions.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/gsp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/204\/2025\/09\/Team-Workshop-300x200.jpg\")
(An image of me in a group meeting)<\/p>\r\n
<\/p>\r\n
Another invaluable part of the GSP is the cohort you get to enjoy it with. Being amongst motivated and ambitious people from similar backgrounds pushed me to strive. It normalises the idea of searching and putting yourself forward for opportunities. This mindset became second nature and by the time I was on placement, I was conditioned to look for opportunities to contribute. I had the confidence to know I could make a difference.
Applying my placement experience<\/strong>
My time on placement, underpinned by the GSP, has given me a new appreciation for the value of experience. I learned that the difference between valuable experience and wasted time is our openness to learning and applying skills in new areas. I would encourage every student to embrace opportunities like this to develop and experience as much as you can, it gets easier every time. I settled in to my placement very quickly and as I began to relax making connections with others became natural and before I knew it I was integrated well into the company.<\/p>\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/gsp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/204\/2025\/09\/Leaving-Event-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\n