ECG Channels Marketing Executive Review

I gained everything I set out to at the start of my placement, and more! I cannot recommend Xerox more highly as a placement organisation. If you are willing to be proactive and work hard, the opportunities to be given real responsibilities are there!

Throughout my placement year, I was always treated like any other member of the team and never as a student!

Support from and a good relationship with my manager was crucial to my successful placement year. Throuhout my placement at Xerox, I was working towards monthly, quarterly and yearly personal objectives, with weekly one-to-one meetings to discuss my job and personal development.

On the whole, I was very busy throughout the year, although the nature of my job naturally meant I was less busy in the summer months. In addition, I got involved in the planning of two corporate events in January and March, meaning I was particularly busy in the run-up to these.

With my original manager set to leave Xerox just three weeks into my placement and no replacement in position, I was tasked with picking up many of his responsibilities. Whilst this was a steep learning curve at the time, it gave me the opportunity to demonstrate my abilities. As the year progressed, I was gradually granted further responsibilities.

A year in industry allowed me to apply and develop many of the skills I've learned at university. More importantly perhaps, it has provided me with an understanding of how businesses operate in reality, as opposed to in theory.

I was fortunate to work in a team with a fantastic atmosphere! Whilst not all members worked in the office every day, there was only one day over the whole year when I was the only person (from my immediate team) in. We had a good diversity of age, gender and nationality, constant office banter and occasional meet-ups out of work e.g. dinner, bowling etc.

With 60+ placement students every year, Xerox are well set-up for managing the placement scheme. Particularly in the first few days, it is reassuring to have an induction with HR and 'Booze Cruise' networking event solely for placement students.

In terms of training, the majority of opportunities available are through Xerox's virtual learning tool, 'Learning@Xerox', and I also attended a QwikSolver (Lean Six Sigma) workshop. On top of this, I managed to secure personal development meetings at two of Xerox's agencies in London and also spent a day at a Xerox partner.

As far as I understand, Xerox do not offer a graduate scheme. However, I have uploaded the latest version of my CV to the internal recruitment database, meaning I can now be contacted directly regarding any future employment opportunities after graduation.

With so many placement students at Xerox, there's a very good social scene. In the first month, the 'Booze Cruise' networking event along the River Thames provides the perfect opportunity to get to know the other placement students. Amongst many other social events was the annual student Christmas party.

My placement was based in Uxbridge (North-West London). Whilst this makes central London easily accessible via the Tube, house rental prices in the area are expensive. However, as I was technically still a full-time student, I was able to apply for a student Oyster Card, significantly reducing my travel costs into London over the year!

Uxbridge itself doesn't have a great social scene. However, with central London only 40 mins-1 hour away, there's plenty of great nights to be had on placement at Xerox!

I was a member of the Xerox student football team, which was entered into a local 11-a-side league. Many students got heavily involved in student charity projects, with events including cake sales and a 5-a-side football tournament. Everybody at Xerox was also offered the opportunity to run the 2013 Berlin Marathon, but months of training for the 2013 Adidas Silverstone Half Marathon was enough for one year!