Year in Industry Students

The end of August sees us saying goodbye to Emmy who has been with us for 13 months on a placement year in the middle of her degree. Emmy studies Accounting & Finance at Sheffield Hallam University and decided to take a year out of her degree so she could put the theory of her studies into practice and see what it is like to work within a business. Emmy joined the office team during her time within the business to give her a breadth of experience across the operations of a business. Much of her time was spent in the Customer Service Team, responding to enquiries via email or on the telephone. She also assisted in accounts and carried out internal audits to get an overview of all aspects of the business. She took part in the Focus Group (an internal inter-departmental forum) and took on responsibility within the Social & Charity committee.

Here’s an insight into what she got up to and her thoughts on her time with Jeff Gosling Ltd.

Why Jeff Gosling Ltd?

I wanted the company to be a manufacturing company and what happens here is something I’ve never heard of before. It’s something a bit different compared to other companies.

What was it like knowing you were only going to be at the company for one year?

Everyone was really welcoming, and your nerves settle quickly. Once I was settled, I didn’t feel like I was just here for a year. I feel like when people know you’re only going to be there for one year, you don’t know how they are going to deal with it, but everyone was really good about it. I wasn’t limited in what I could learn and if I wanted to learn more about something, I could ask, and it would be absolutely fine.

What was good about working for a year in the middle of your degree?

I hadn’t done anything like this before but I just threw myself in and hoped for the best. I feel like I’ve built skills that would help me with any career path: communication, teamwork, speaking with customers. It was a challenge learning the business, especially the technical side of things, but I feel like you would always be learning, however long you were somewhere so it was good experience.

We are all sad to say goodbye to Emmy and I’m sure many of the customers will miss her too. She has received several ‘thank you’ cards during her time here and has been a huge asset to the team.

This year, our Year in Industry student is Joe. He is taking a year out from his degree in Product Design to learn more about how his CAD skills can be put into practice in the workplace. He is working across departments to help with projects such as the implementation of new machinery and improvement of documentation.

As a company, it is fantastic to take part in the initiative of having a Year in Industry student. Helen, our Operations & Systems Manager who was involved in the recruitment of both Emmy and Joe says, “You are investing in the future of a young person, enabling them to learn about the workplace and how the skills they have may translate into a future career. They bring fresh ideas in to the business and can have a positive impact to the departments they are involved with”.