Amy Jones

Country of origin: United Kingdom

Placement: DePuy Synthes, Companies of Johnson and Johnson

As the job market becomes ever more competitive, it is essential to set yourself apart from everybody else, and undertaking a placement year is a huge opportunity that will help you to do this. It is a great way to find out what you like and don’t like, before you enter the ‘real world’ – it gives you a taste of working for a great organisation. It is an experience that I definitely wanted to have and was driven to obtain a place with a huge corporation.

As a UK Marketing Assistant, my role involved supporting all of the Business Units and Product Managers with any creative projects or ad-hoc work, as well as assisting with events organisation and being able to attend the events when they occured. My role at DePuy Synthes was extremely creative and taught me how to use design programs such as InDesign, PhotoShop and Illustrator. I worked within a small team of four young people which enabled me to develop ideas and learn from them day to day.

My placement has been a whirlwind – it has gone incredibly quickly and looking back, I hadn’t even realised how much I had learnt as I went along. I have gained so many skills which I will be able to utilise within any future role; from marketing skills to general business skills such as organisation and team work. It has been both fun and challenging, and has really helped me in deciding the future that I want to take following on from my university degree.

The best part of my placement was the culture within which I worked. Johnson and Johnson have a great working environment, where you are able to feel relaxed and part of the team, not just an ‘intern’. With around 30 interns within the company, there was a great social side to my year, particularly being in a great city like Leeds, so there was always something to do and something to look forward to both in and out of work.

Prior to commencing my placement year, I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do following my degree. My placement helped me to see what I like and don’t like and I am now more certain of the career path that I will follow. I am certain that the skills that I have learnt from my placement, as well as having such a major company on my CV will set me apart from a lot of other students seeking graduate employment.

If I’m completely honest, I don’t think I made the most of the services that LUMS offer to students, and I do regret this. LUMS offer a lot of help in developing skills and give you access to a lot of huge companies which a lot of universities won’t have access to so it is really beneficial to make the most out of these opportunities.