Patricia Chiracu

Country of origin: Romania

Placement: IBM

Undertaking a placement year as part of my degree was extremely important to me as I was very keen to gain an in-depth insight into the real world of work and apply the knowledge acquired at University to real-life situations. I knew that completing a placement would be very beneficial as it would enable me to develop my skills and gain invaluable experience that would be of tremendous help in my future career. By doing a placement, one can also boost their employability prospects and make more informed career decisions by discovering what it is that they are truly passionate about.

My role at IBM was to support a wide range of Business Operations Managers in revenue and profit maximisation, focusing on contract management, reviewing various complex projects and ensuring that all contracts were audit compliant. I was responsible for the coordination of the debt process within the department that I was part of, producing various reports, on a weekly and monthly basis, that were used at an executive level, enabling senior management to analyse the financial performance on an on-going basis. I was also responsible for processing and tracking fibre cabling orders from different customers, the main one being Royal Bank of Scotland. This task enabled me to experience a customer facing role and helped me gain confidence when dealing with urgent customer requests that required immediate attention.

The favourite aspect of my placement has been the fact that I was never treated like an intern, but like a regular employee. I thoroughly enjoyed the huge amount of responsibility that I was given throughout my placement year. I had the chance to get involved in a wide range of activities outside my daily job including helping out at assessment centres, representing IBM at a Careers Fair on campus at Lancaster University, organising an employability skills session at a local school and mentoring a first year student on general employability topics for six months.

The LUMS Careers Team provided me with the necessary support throughout the entire application process, giving me useful resources as well as invaluable hints and tips on how to complete an effective application form, successfully pass different types of psychometric tests, come across as a strong candidate at interviews and succeed at assessment centres. Due to the constant help and support of the Careers Team, I was able to secure and successfully complete my placement at IBM. In addition, the Research @ Work course completed towards the end of my second year proved to be very useful as it not only helped me with my placement preparation, but it also enabled me to find out more information about the dissertation that I need to produce in my final year at University and the relevant research methods.

I am now planning to undertake a Masters Programme after my Bachelor’s degree and thereafter I will be looking to secure a graduate job as a Business Consultant with a view to becoming a Project Manager later on in my career. I strongly believe that the self-confidence that I have developed during my placement year combined with the skills that I have gained will help me build a successful career.