James Pemberton

Country of origin: United Kingdom

Placement: Olswang LLP

I chose to take a placement year as part of my course as I felt having professional experience would help me to stand out in a very competitive graduate job market. A placement year also provides you with a great opportunity to apply and develop many of the skills you learn at university in a work-place environment.

I spent my placement year working for the international law firm Olswang, as a member of their Business Change Team. The focus of my role as a Trainee Business Analyst was to support the Head of Strategic Development and the Chief Operating Officer by carrying out research and analysis and helping to implement a variety of strategic projects. For example, a project that I led identified a number of potential new clients in two sectors that are seen as strategically important for the firm, and another looked at the implications of artificial intelligence technologies for law firms.

I would summarise my placement as being very varied with lots of responsibility. I worked on a large number of projects from identifying potential clients to helping improve some of the business critical processes of the firm. Being given a lot of responsibility from very early on in my placement meant that I learnt much about the need to manage deadlines and work with a lot of stakeholders from across the business. I know it sounds a bit cliché but, no two days were the same!

The thing I liked most about my placement was the level of responsibility that I was given from very early on as this meant that I was able to work on some very interesting projects that had a clear and tangible impact on the business. It also meant that I learnt a lot about my own strengths and areas for improvement and it provided me with the opportunity to further develop many of the skills that employers look for. 

The LUMS Careers team were extremely helpful with my placement preparation. In particular, I found the CV writing sessions and drop-ins very useful when putting together my application and refining my CV. The mock interviews with graduate employers were very helpful as it meant that I could get feedback on my interview style and make any adjustments before I went into the real thing. It was also through the LUMS Careers team that I first found out about the Olswang role.

After graduation I hope to go into the agricultural consulting sector. Whilst this sector is very different to the legal one, many of the skills that I have learnt while on placement will be transferable. For example, the ability to manage a number of different projects whilst working with a variety of teams will be important when working in consulting of any sort. Having professional work experience will help me to differentiate my application and has provided me with examples that I can refer to in cover letters and during interviews. Also, having been through a competitive recruitment process to get my placement is useful experience in itself as it makes applying for graduate positions much less daunting.