The first ever Placement Students Welcome Back Event successfully took place at the newly refurbished Marylebone Campus on Wednesday 15th October. The 2013-14 placement students were welcomed back to University by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Helen Batley, Placement Module Leader, Nuala OSullivan, the Business Experience Team and Career Development Centre. The Welcome Back Event provided an opportunity to celebrate the great achievements of our placement students, help them with their transition back to university and guide them further in making the most of their placement year to ensure future career success.
The afternoon started with Helen Batley’s welcome speech where she congratulated the students for acting as admirable ambassadors for the University and making us very proud. She highlighted some of the many positive comments received from our placement employers who have described our students as professional, innovative and willing to embrace new technology.
Nuala OSullivan then went on to highlight how students could use the skills, knowledge and real life insight into business gained during their placement year to enhance their academic studies. Debunking the myth that a placement year will hinder academic success, Nuala shared an interesting finding that students returning to university from their placement year often move up a whole grade boundary, so those previously predicted a 2.1 are more likely to achieve a 1st following their placement year.
Working towards a graduate career
Louise Bamford, Careers Consultant, then delivered an engaging session motivating students to start thinking about their graduate career now. Throughout this informative crash course in how to turn your placement year into a graduate job, Louise highlighted key steps students should take in order to achieve graduate success.
For many of our students the highlight of the afternoon was the presentation of the first ever Placement Students Year Book. Consisting of messages from Professor Barbara Allan (Dean of the Westminster Business School), Nuala OSullivan and the Business Experience Team, the Year Book again provided an ideal opportunity to congratulate our students on successfully securing and completing the Undergraduate placement year.
Importance of Placement Year for students
Employers also provided their thoughts on the placement year. On the importance of placements for students a representative of Optical Distribution Ltd stated: ‘It is very important for students to obtain that vital experience needed for working in a real business’ On the contribution of our placement students to the work of the NHS a representative commented: ‘The calibre of the placements from the University of Westminster continues to exceed our expectations’ and on the benefit of the placement year for graduate employability a representative from SMBC highlighted the fact that: ‘There is also the possibility that the student can impress enough to be given priority when the employer comes to recruit graduates’
The remainder of the Year Book consisted of student profiles. Our 2013-14 placement students worked in a variety of roles including Finance Trainee, Investment Banking Intern, Social Media Executive, Marketing Coordinator, HRD Group Support Officer, Associate Consultant to name just a few. This represented variety of courses on offer at the Westminster Business School including: Business Management, Accounting, Finance, Marketing and Human Resource Management. Our students worked for a range of employers from public sector organisations such as the Harrow Council to worldwide names such as Sony Music, international corporations such as the Japanese bank SMBCE and house hold names in the UK such as the NHS. Collectively, our students described the placement year as: ‘an excellent way to test out your future career, relevant work experience, a massive CV boost, a once in a lifetime experience’.
Finally the afternoon came to a close with the eagerly anticipated opportunity for students to network, share experiences and build connections. Overall the Undergraduate Placement Year has helped students get a head start on the graduate career ladder, enhanced their confidence, and provided them with invaluable experience and a network of contacts to benefit them in the future.
We have full faith that we will be hearing great things about our 2013-14 placement students in the near future. If you are a 1st or 2nd year undergraduate student at the Westminster Business School we would highly encourage you to take advantage of this great opportunity to undertake a one year business placement.
For further details please contact the Business Experience Team via wbs-bet@westminster.ac.uk For all other queries, please contact the Business Experience Team: WBS Registry Office 35 Marlybone Road, London, NW1 5LS T: +44 (0)202 506 7027 Email: wbs-bet@westminster.ac.uk
This blog was written by Jaspreet Singh, Business Placements Coordinator.
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