Alex: Bsc (Hons) Biomedical Science with Industrial/Professional Experience.

Placement at: Sanofi, Guildford, UK.

Why did you choose to do a placement?

Given the competitiveness of the job market these days, I felt that it would be beneficial to get some work experience as soon as possible. I wasn’t totally sure where I wanted to work after my degree either, so thought that a year in industry would be the perfect opportunity to get a taste of an area of interest.

How did you choose your placement?

I’ve always liked the idea of working in communications, so I was looking for a placement that would develop the relevant skills that I wouldn’t learn in the lecture theatre. I ideally wanted a salaried placement too, although this was secondary to finding a position that sounded interesting.

Did you get your first placement you applied for? For students who don’t get their first placement what advice can you give them?

I believe I made about three applications before landing my placement (and some companies never replied to me!). The best thing to do is to not be disheartened, don’t take it as an indication that you have to apply to everything to be in with a chance of landing any placement at all. Keep your chin up, there are plenty of placements out there.

For the placement you secured what was the application process?

I had to submit a CV and covering letter, so I did some preliminary research in order to tailor both to the position.

I secured a phone interview, which took place immediately after a lecture (so I had to find a quiet corridor in Stopford, easier said than done) and covered the basics of why I applied and what I had to offer.

I received an email shortly after for an in-person interview at Sanofi’s UK head office in Guildford, so I did a bit more research and developed a short information booklet to revise from. At the 30-minute interview, I had to answer some fairly standard questions (explain a time you worked well in a team etc.) from my line manager and the head of the department, then complete a couple of short competency tests to bring my total interview time to around 1.5 hours.

A few days after the in-person interview, I received a phone call saying I’d been successful. The rest is history!

How much responsibility did you have on your placement?

I was a Communications Student Placement, working with my line manager and another student in internal communications. I helped with the creation of materials that would be distributed across the company within UK & Ireland, as well as with the scheduling of quarterly ‘townhall’ meetings. When a department needed a video, internal news story, poster or other communications piece made, I was one of the people to come to. I definitely had a lot of responsibility, I did far more than bring tea to people!

How has the placement year developed you as a person and your skills?

I have developed an array of organisational and creative skills, both of which are going to benefit me during my final year. Knowing that I had departments counting on me to get my work done to a high standard and on-time, I learnt to organise my time well in order to keep myself from falling behind on any of the multiple projects I had going at any one time.

Would you like to tell us anything else about either your placement experience or placement support in general at UoM?

I’d recommend a placement to anybody, it develops some truly essential skills that purely academic work simply won’t, and it has shown to me that communications are the area I wish to go into once I graduate.