Placement year with Enscite is a win-win

Looking for the right placement

As Daniel neared the end of the second year of his BA (Hons) Business Management and Finance, he started to look for placement year opportunities and spotted an advert for Enscite Project Co-ordinator with the University. The job role sounded perfect:

“They were looking for someone with database and analytical skills, and good attention to detail,” says Daniel. “A lot of those skills come into my course, so I thought the role really suited me.”

Becoming a key member of the team

Daniel’s application was successful, and he started in May 2022. Since the Enscite team all work remotely, Daniel worked from home predominantly but went into the University at least once a month for face-to-face team meetings. He was comfortable working from home, having completed the first year of his course this way.

Daniel was responsible for providing administrative support, including moderating online workshops, monitoring attendance, logging the hours of support provided to each company, and gathering evidence for funding claims to comply with ERDF guidance. He was also asked to use his Excel skills to make improvements to the team’s key tracking spreadsheet.

His line manager — Enscite Project Manager, Debbie Turner — explains the impact Daniel has had:

“Daniel soon found his feet and quickly mastered the ERDF procedures. He has become a hard-working, diligent, and trusted member of our team. We are always looking for ways to make improvements to processes and Daniel was tasked with making it easier for us to record our project outputs and have a clear view of our position during the project. Daniel’s improvements mean we can now drill down on each individual output instantly and know exactly where we are at any given point in time. He’s brought a fresh outlook into our team and he’s bright and very capable.” 

A chance to get more face-to-face experience

Recognising that most of Daniel’s work experience had been online, the Enscite team put Daniel forward for a short, 20-day placement opportunity working on-site with a Derby-based manufacturer, Tidyco. Debbie Turner explains:

“Tidyco needed help digitalising their working practices and operating procedures, and Daniel was the obvious choice because he has excellent IT skills. So we were able to help one of our companies whilst also enhancing Daniel’s real-world working experience.”

Daniel says this additional placement has been worthwhile for him — not only because he’s experienced working in an office environment, but also because it’s developed his network. Knowing that Daniel was interested in working in the finance sector after graduation, the Production Director at Tidyco has put Daniel in contact with a local accountancy firm. This firm has advised him on future careers and graduate schemes and has also offered Daniel work experience or job shadowing over the summer, which he plans to take up.

Find out how Tidyco benefitted from this placement

The benefits of the placement year

Daniel says the placement year with Enscite has been a valuable experience for him:

“Before, my experience was in customer service, so gaining work experience within a different business environment has been really good. I’ve gained a lot of transferable skills, such as communication, speaking with clients, database management, and working within a team to achieve project goals,” reflects Daniel.

He also says that choosing to take a year in industry has given him more time and more perspective to consider the type of role he wants when he leaves University:

“I believe it has definitely helped in terms of planning my career and how I want to approach the third year. It gives you a chance to step back from studying and take time to reflect on future opportunities. But you’re still developing while being away from the University.”