A year in the life of an Industrial Placement student

When Binita Mehta first applied to university she knew that securing graduate-level work with a Business Management degree was open to many avenues and pathways. Conscious that employers were eager to find graduates with industry experience, she decided to opt for a sandwich degree – a programme which includes a placement year or internship within an industry. We interviewed her about her time at Cohesion Recruitment as an Industrial Placement student, here’s what she had to say:

“University teaches you about the knowledge and skills required for your degree, however I wanted to go one step further and experience what it’s like working within the industry. Within business management there are so many pathways that you can take, from HR to sales and marketing and like many other students out there I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do after graduation. This is what led me to start my year’s placement with graduate recruitment provider Cohesion.

At Cohesion they really go out of their way to make new starters feel welcome, this for me happened even before my start date with a welcome phone call finding out my likes, dislikes and interests. Little did I know this gets circulated round all staff members and is a personal approach taken by the company to discover more information about each employee – which you wouldn’t necessarily find on CV’s!

I had the opportunity to work across all areas of the business, which is the great thing about an SME. From sales and marketing to recruiting for care and support workers to temporary and permanent recruitment – I really have learnt it all! I now realise recruitment isn’t as black and white as everyone thinks and there are so many different areas and sectors. My favourite part of working for Cohesion was recruiting for my own position for the following year. I was involved with every stage, from advertising for the role to completing telephone interviews and assessment centres – which we had a 100% attendance rate – I was so happy!

My industrial placement year has helped me grow as an individual and taught me how to get on with different types of people, which is so important within business. Working with various members of staff  ranging from specialist recruiters right through to management and directors has also been great another great part of working for Cohesion. Seeing individuals really passionate about what they do has given me the drive to grasp any opportunity and give anything a go – which before this year I may not have had the confidence to do.

I would recommend a placement year to anyone wanting to give it a go and have loved my time spent at Cohesion. There is a lot of opportunity to develop and grow within the company, which has been the case with previous IP students who have returned after graduation. The year has helped with my personal development and now I can concentrate on my final year at University with the confidence and knowledge that I have gained, who knows what will happen after graduation – watch this space!”