News
Paul Brown
23.02.17
Gavin is our current Marketing, Recruitment and Events Industrial Placement student from Glasgow Caledonian University. He is an integral part of the team hiring our next industrial placement students and has shared with us his top four reasons why more students should undertake an industrial placement.
Having completed eight months of my industrial placement at FDM, the reasons why others should apply seem endless, but let’s give it a try. Here are my top four:
Experience:
Undertaking an industrial placement not only gives you the opportunities to create and build upon new experiences, it also provides you with valuable work experience. You can expect to gain industry relevant experience and new life experiences, as I have. Having 12 months of industry experience on your CV when graduating can give you the edge against others in the highly competitive graduate market.
Development:
I have developed greatly and can already see a clear progression from the start of my placement until now. Working in a professional environment develops skills that you are unlikely to get from university alone. During my industrial placement with FDM, I have experienced significant development in my soft and commercial skills. Most notably I have made improvements to my time management, interpersonal and technical skills.
- Time management: Working across numerous departments with often competing deadlines has helped me develop strong time management skills.
- Interpersonal Skills: You will be placed in an environment which will encourage and naturally strengthen communication and presentation skills. As part of my time at FDM I have been running the Glasgow Graduate Assessment Centres, meaning I have to present in front of new graduates at least twice a week. This new found public speaking confidence will no doubt be of great benefit to me as I return to university and onto my future career.
- Technical Skills: As FDM is an IT and professional service provider there is also opportunity to improve technical skills in numerous backgrounds. Personally I have worked extensively with Salesforce. I believe having experience on this world renowned platform will help me as I move into the job market.
Prestige:
FDM is a prestigious organisation, accompanied by prestigious clients. This looks great for your CV and offers opportunities which are second to none. Having spent the last eight months within FDM, I have built up a network of contacts that I can utilise for mentorship and advice in my future career path.
Varied Workload:
The workload given is incredibly diverse as it contains work from various departments on different projects.This makes the days fly by, whilst you achieve invaluable experience. There is often the worry that industrial placement students become the office tea maker or that you will spend the year photocopying and picking up people’s dry cleaning, but this is definitely not the case at FDM. I have been tasked with real projects, fully integrated into each of the teams I work within and given the same responsibilities as permanent staff. This has given me confidence, personal development opportunities and a wealth of experience.
As you can see, there are many benefits of the FDM industrial placement programme and I would encourage any student who is considering an industrial placement to apply. I have improved my commercial knowledge and opened myself up to diverse cultures with the help of FDM. I have travelled to Dublin and London on numerous occasions and I look forward to where and what the rest of my placement with FDM has in store for me – hopefully a trip to New York.
If you would now like to join our industrial placement programme find out more about each of the available roles and apply now.
23 February, 2017