Tom Osborn

Country of origin: United Kingdom

Placement: Lancaster University Management School

I chose to take an industrial placement year because I felt it would be a great opportunity to gain professional skills and business experience along with improving my employability after finishing my degree scheme. I felt that it would be a valuable chance to learn business skills outside of a classroom, in a much more interesting setting. Furthermore, I saw the placement year as a great way to network and meet new people.

During my placement year I worked for Lancaster University Management School in the Department for Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation. I worked specifically on European Regional Development Funded projects to assist North West SMEs profit from the wealth of knowledge and research available within LUMS. My role was quite varied and extremely interesting and different on a daily basis as I worked on tasks ranging from project management to event planning and delivery.

I very much enjoyed the environment of working on a university campus, which is a very different experience to working within an office block. The team were also very welcoming and friendly, which makes a real difference when working with people who are passionate and enthusiastic about their work.

One of my favourite parts of the placement year was the level of responsibility I was given from day one along with the sense I was a real employee rather than a student. I felt as though I was responsible for my professional development throughout the year and was interested in practicing and learning more about project management which I hope to go into in the coming years after I graduate.

The placement gave me a strong insight into what I enjoy and do not enjoy, and my strengths and weaknesses in the work environment. The skills that I gained during my placement will definitely help me in my future. I feel my leadership, organization and communication skills improved greatly during my placement, I learnt to be more assertive in what I do and set clear goals, plan things ahead of time and be ready to deal with any problems, and effectively express myself in an understandable and concise way. These skills are transferrable both to future employment and studies and could have only been gained after working in a professional environment.