On the job experience for student

Sep 19 2007 By Andrew Mernin and Sarah McCarthy

BUSINESS and financial management student Sarah McCarthy (above left) has just completed a work placement at Newcastle-based healthcare specialist Cels and she believes other students in the region should follow her lead.

The Sunderland University student said the placement, where she was supervised by Emma Shorman (above right), was an excellent way of gaining practical knowledge of being in a business environment.

Here's what Sarah had to say about the placement:

Finding my placement took determination and hard work however the key to finding the perfect placement is to have patience as the opportunities and experience you can gain are endless.

I arranged the placement to gain practical knowledge of being in a business environment. I also wanted to experience putting the skills that I learned in university into practice, in the hope of expanding and developing my knowledge further.

Cels (in Newcastle) is an organisation which is devoted to steering the healthcare sector in the North-East. It uses its unique position as a catalyst for change in the North-East healthcare and life science sectors to bring together experts from both academia and industry to further the work around healthcare in the region.

They are completely dedicated to overseeing the implementation of a regional growth strategy for healthcare, including identifying regional strengths and opportunities in R&D, technology transfer and business development. Cels also act as a coordinating hub for academic and business cluster activity.

One of my criteria when looking for a placement was the opportunity to work within a number of different departments of the company, in order to grasp a larger range of experience. Cels allowed me to do just that as my role is to provide commercial support in the areas of performance management, human resources (training), marketing and finance.

My Advice

My advice to anyone who is going to do a work placement is not to give up looking.

There is always going to be an element of this process which takes time and commitment so don’t be apprehensive to apply for lots of placements, the right one is there for you if you continue to stay focused and determined.

Always take care to personalise your application or covering letter. It’s important to stand out to an employer and show your potential by always giving that little bit more and showing you have put in effort and research.

Do thorough research on your placement company before you start will give you an advantage and awareness of what to expect. When I first began my placement at Cels in June 2007, I was very aware that they were a healthcare and life science business and my knowledge of this was very limited. Although my priorities would lie within the business aspect of the company, I still felt as though a good interest within healthcare and life science would help me.My efforts to do this were encouraged and didn’t go unnoticed.

Go to page two to read more about Sarah's experience with Cels.