Marketing Industrial Placement Review

I loved doing my placement – I thought I was really going to struggle getting into a work routine, but I actually looked forward to starting work every morning. I got involved with some really interesting projects and was surrounded by great people, in and outside of my department, it definitely made the transition from student to professional life easier.

I definitely felt valued by my colleagues. I was asked if I wanted to try a different area of the office for a week or so, but I had such a great responsibility within my team that, although they would not stop me from trying new things, they needed me to come back!

I have had really great support whilst working at L3 CTS. Not only do I have my line manager and team to help me and push me but I am also part of their Professional Development Scheme, which gives me a mentor to encourage me to develop as a person rather than just a marketer.

As my time at L3 CTS has progressed my days have become busier and busier, I cannot remember the last time I twiddled my thumbs. However, my team and manager do make sure I am not overworked when it comes to deciding deadlines and offer to take some of the workload off. It is definitely up to me to decide when I have too much work on.

Like all situations I had to earn responsibility so it took time to build up. I went from proof reading to drafting social media calendars, but by the end of my placement I was set up to do more important things like talking to the press and managing my own advertising campaign.

Although I now have a deeper insight into marketing as a profession which I will be able to use in my studies, I have also developed personal skills. I would say that I am a lot more confident and have become better at communicating my ideas, whether it be through a presentation or in an email.

The atmosphere in the office was not as chilled out and lively as you might get in an agency but there were a lot of times that I was able to turn around have some great banter with my colleagues. Although it felt serious, there was still a friendly culture.

To my understanding, the company has had engineering placement students for a long time so there was a structure in place, but as I was one of the first business placement students I got to choose quite a lot of the time what I got into – which actually turned out to be really good.

L3 CTS allowed me to go to seminars that were related to my degree and were prepared to pay for my ticket. They also paid for my membership to an institute of my choice! They definitely spent a lot of time helping me develop as a person and a marketer.

The professional development scheme I was on is definitely orientated towards future employment within the company. I have not actually finished my placement yet, so I do not know if they will offer me a job post university but since the company is going so quickly and has a lot of investment behind it – so fingers crossed!

There is only one other placement student in my area and we get on very well, but we do not tend to interact outside of work, which is shame. Although there is the typical Christmas party and company bowling events, there is not a lot going on socially. However, if you are prepared to organize it, I think there is scope to do more social activities.

Crawley is about average for southern prices, it is not as expensive as London rent wise but it is not as cheap as some Northern towns. I spend a lot of time socializing with people in Surrey and that is quite expensive – I think it has currently has the most expensive pint in Britain!

Crawley has a weird of “Crew Tuesdays”, due its proximity to Gatwick a lot of Cabin Crew are in the area – although I have not actually experienced this. The night life is pretty poor, there are clubs and bars but nothing special. I am a Newcastle University student so I may just be comparing the night life to that of Newcastle which is a bit unfair!

There were not any activities that sprung up directly from work so I had to find my own opportunities. I found a hockey club close by that was full of friendly and sociable people. I am currently trying to arrange some sort of Pool/Snooker club with some colleagues from work, so again I had to make my own opportunities.