At hecom we value working closely with universities and students. This enables us to understand the ever changing landscape our audience operates in whilst providing them with additional support. One of the ways we do this is through the placement year programme we offer.
Every year we welcome new students into the business, offering the opportunity for them to gain valuable work experience. Known as a sandwich year, students join us in between their second and third year of studies at university. This provides them with the perfect opportunity to implement what they have learnt so far. We understand the difficulty of securing a role in today’s job market. Therefore, we have curated the programme over recent years to help students to secure roles post graduation.
In order to provide an overview of the business, the year in industry is split into rotations. Here, students can gain experience in multiple functional areas including Operations and logistics, Marketing, Client services and Project Management.
Our students have blown us away with their fresh insight and innovation year on year. Moreover, we encourage them to get stuck in from day one, giving them full responsibility of their own projects and tasks. Within each rotation they additionally receive support from a mentor who trains and guides them through that particular function.
The option is also provided for students to spend extra time in a function of their choosing depending on their career aspirations. Our aim is to build a programme for the students’ needs. Consequently, we have received great feedback, with some returning after their studies to work full-time.
One our current placement programme students, Fin discusses his experience thus far at hecom.
Through our placement programme we have reinforced ties with two universities in particular, Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and the University of the West of England (UWE).
The founder of hecom attended SHU, a university which shares the same entrepreneurial spirit and drive as the business. It has recently won Outstanding Entrepreneurial University for 2021 by the Times Higher Education Awards, further evidencing its expertise in the area.
Our current placement student from SHU shares this mentality. Harry hopes to use his experience in the business alongside knowledge gained from university to take his venture full time once he’s graduated.
We asked Harry how his placement year will benefit his future career:
In addition to SHU, hecom is closely linked to UWE. As a member of the Business and Management Advisory Board, our CEO aims to support the university in providing SME business ready graduates. In addition, we are able to provide key industry knowledge to equip students with the practical skills necessary to prepare them for work post-university.
Both our students and university ties enable us to be a foreword thinking business. This mindset is then translated into the premium service we provide for our clients which is driven by passionate and knowledgeable individuals.
