Interview with BA(Hons) Business Management student, Euan McTrusty, about his placement experience.

The following is an computer-generated summary of the video transcript.

Hello. I'm dr Julie Roberts and I'm the program leader for the Business Management programme which is in Glasgow School for Business and Society. I am Euan McTrusty and I have just recently graduated from the course business management where I was on placement in my third year. Excellent. So I am delighted that Euan is here today is going to talk about his experience on industrial placement and some good news about his his graduate job that he's managed to achieve. So first of all Euan, I wanted to ask you did you enjoy your industrial placement year within your course? Yeah, I really loved it. It was something that just kinda I wasn't thinking about until it was offered to me and I've seen the opportunities. It was, I was really just quite happy at university in that experience but then when it came along was kind of unsure about it to go for it because I wasn't sure I was ready for it because I've never had that sort of office environment job and when it came along and I started to meet people at Scottish power, I feel really welcomed. And then when I was successful I felt great because I was, I realized that I did actually really want it in the end. Yeah. Overall I was there for 13 months. So the more I was there, the more enjoyed it, even with Covid; it was something that was was using the knowledge that I've learned at university and I was putting it into practice and I was learning new skills on top of that, where it was really rewarding to kind of see that and it was really just making sure that everything I was doing, I could see the progress, I could see everything I could see my success in front of me, I was working towards something I get sometimes I realized that university, I kind of felt like I was caught in a, I was just kinda caught in the loop, but I just kind of kept going, I don't really feel like, especially in second year, so the, the end goes so far away but to kind of go in and do that, there was an angle every single week, every single month and then go was to completely just impress enough to almost be asked back and have a good um rapport when you do go back and have the opportunity. Fantastic. That was really, really well said there, I mean, so you, you started Glasgow Caledonian University from school, went straight into the first year, is that right? So you did first year and second year and then took the opportunity rather than doing the modules and third year taking the year out in industrial placement, is that right? Great. And then you had to do an interview to get to get that placement. Yeah, so it was just an opportunity that I've seen online and it was never really something I just said, that's not really something that I thought about too deeply, especially because I knew the competition would be, it'd be a lot of competition for things at us and especially because we had that we had that class preparing for placement second year two, there was a few opportunities that I went through that process where I tried it and I had another interview that I didn't get, unfortunately, This one was the second interview, where I took some skills and feedback that I got from the first interview and then I went through this process and thankfully got it. So yeah, it was yeah, it was the scary thing was in that sense where it was, I went from part time interviews and uni practices to then big office environment interviews. Even even if I didn't get, it was still a valuable experience for the one that I didn't get, But then I could just took that into the one I was successful in and thankfully I did get that one brilliant, A great example of how you can learn by experience in in the job market and doing interviews and in terms of learning, did you feel that there were lots of opportunities to learn during that in the year that you did on your industrial placement? Yeah, well obviously there's a lot of you, well I was business management as I was saying, so actually went to an accountant role in finance, so that's not something that I never thought about when I was just what I was always just business management stuff like that, but that was where I was realizing how valuable business management was it was because even though I didn't focus on finance had covered it in class in the second year and realized that it was in every single area I've worked on, every single area in the department, like you've got marketing, economics and stuff like that. So I learned new skills and also really develop the skills that already learned and put into practice from 1st and 2nd year. And also there, I was actually put into a course. My manager put me into a course to kind of keep me up to speed before that with all the new starts as well. Just that kind of basic accountant, them prominent scottishpower employee where they just teach me the basics and that really felt like I'd been put on a good level like they really did appreciate, I felt it was a bit scared, I'd not know as much, but obviously they understand I've got busted. The whole point of the placement is to to take someone else doesn't know and teach them and train them their way. So in that sense I learned good skills but I learned some really good soft skills with as I'm like communication and team working and really just appreciating the people around you, especially when I was, I was only in the office for the last few months of my placement with a lead that with a few in between where I just went in to meet my boss and things. So I've learned so many skills in that aspect as well, learning from home the whole time and trying to communicate and get a good interaction with my team from home. That was, that was really challenging. But it was a great experience and I learned a lot from it in that aspect as well, how we could just really networking and talk to people in ways they appreciate and kind of not being afraid to speak up to people in other areas if they have done wrong and they're, they're the manager, even though I'm the placement, it's kind of like, it's just that confidence to kind of go up and just speak to them about it. there again, just talk to them in a way that you, in a way that they were appreciating not um like trade on anyone's tours in that aspect, but yeah, just learnt so many skills from it and it was fantastic. I mean there's so many sort of graduate attributes that employers need that you, you've been on the job, learning real life, learning so fantastic opportunity. Can you tell me a bit about your graduate job? It's great to hear that the Scottish power have offered you a job now you're going into their graduate position within them. Yeah, so the placement was obviously so valuable to that because not in the traditional sense where I'd hoped it was, it's not the same idea of the company because um, the people that I was in placement in the area, I was in placement with, they don't actually offer a graduate anymore. Um, they just focus on the placements. So in the traditional sense I heard are people with placements with kind of, they had, they were going back to the same area and it was almost like, like you can, you apply, it kind of, it will look good for you in in that sense. But unfortunate for me I had to, the only way I could get in was a completely different side of the business. It was, I was in renewables and then I'm going to networks. So there's obviously a good few people that crossover and the name was known back to start from scratch from applying and just talking to different new people. And even in the placement wishes where I would say he's most valuable as even if I wasn't going back to the same company, it was the experiences in the, the all that that you can draw on in these interview questions is so vast and you can talk about working along university, you were doing university work on top and while working a full time job from home, it was just always that sort of experiences where just because I went back to that company that went to, that was just because I had such a enjoyable time there and really wanted to go back and I really had, it was really like to pursue that, but if I don't go back there, the experiences I got from the placement, it's just it's interview feel that's all it is really, it gets you through every interview. There's so many experiences to draw from that, each can just take off the top of your head because you did, you did let him breathe it every single day and you really were, you are, you were a big part in the machine of a um multinational company, so it was a great experience in that aspect as well. Fantastic. I love the way that you, you put that there and I mean a great company to have secured a job with, you know, we're all very proud of you and the Business Management programme and what a tremendous experience that you've had and what an opportunity to be able to, to do that and you've taken that on and just my final question to you is you know, do you have any advice that you can give students who are just starting their course about, you know, about the industrial placement year, about about whether they should do it or about, you know, if they are going to go on and do it, you know what they should do? Yeah, definitely. What I would say is now looking at all my, my friends and people who were also in business management, talking about the graduation, it was just two days ago and I was just meeting people have not spoke to in a while and stuff and they're asking we're just talking about where we're going next. And that's when I really to me how vital the study of the study of placement was it really because when you're going for a graduate job it says on the tenets, everyone is a graduate. You've got to get something that puts you, puts you apart and have that experience. And for me I really went in as a boy and came out of man. It's different. I went the 1st and 2nd year results for just until was just floating through it. It wasn't had nothing looking back on and there it was just it was pretty poor. Then come back I had give me that motivation to go right while I'm watching this graduate job at the end of it because we had to really work for it. So I'm saying to all my friends and I really do mean it you've got if you can get a placement you've got to get one in that sense because it really sets you apart and not even sets you apart for jobs as a person that makes you grow. It puts so many years on you and that in your mind and they get that experience. It's so it really matures you up and ready for a good workplace. Fantastic that that is so insightful. And the comments that you've given us today sounds like it's been a really valuable experience for you. Thank you. Thank you so much for your time Euan.