The Placement Experience: Final Week

Blog Post created by Mohamed Sheikh  on Jul 21, 2017

Hey guys, I'm back with one final blog on behalf of Hibaag who was our placement student over the last couple of weeks. Before I post below what she had to say, I thought I'd say something about my experiences over the last few weeks.

Let me start off by saying that the first few days were tough! I'm used to putting my head down and working quite independently with my own work; so to have someone reporting into you, who isn't experienced enough to work independently was not easy, it was question-time galore! (I now sympathise with all my previous managers during my junior years of employment, is it too late to say I'm sorry?). 

Towards the end of week one and the rest of her placement, I started to manage Hibaag much better. I would make sure I gave her a fully detailed brief of what she had to do and supply all of the information she required to do her tasks. Also, instead of allowing her to constantly ask me questions whenever she got stuck, I encouraged her to use her initiative and do what she thought was right, but also set aside a few slots throughout the day where she could ask questions. This gave her more confidence and made getting on with my work much easier. 

Gaining this managerial experience was as key for me as gaining work experience was for Hibaag, so as much as she has thanked me, I have a lot to thank her for too. I've heard a lot about managerial styles in the past and it started to give me a sense of what my management style is like. 

Thanks to everyone who helped me to help Hibaag for the last couple of weeks. She's due back her in native Leicester now where she lives and Birmingham where she studies so all the best to her! Here's her last blog entry, hope you enjoy it:

" Well UBM, it’s been great but I’m sad to say that this will be my last blog post — and if you haven’t read my other one already, check out my previous post.

My short time here at UBM has been great and amongst the lovely people that I have met, I have taken away with me a pool of knowledge that I can only thank you guys for.

The main lesson I have learnt from this experience is, it’s all a process and it’s about knowing the right steps to take, here’s an example. Prior to my time here, my naïve self-turned a blind eye to the significance of excel within the job role. It literally is 80% of the work done here in the same degree as Oracle Essbase and Smartview. Almost instantaneously, my thoughts shifted and I began to think, well how can I better my excel skills, knowing it will be vital to my career. There began the process of change and finding the fundamental steps to take to reach that goal.

Another lesson I learnt was that networking is key. I learnt that talking to a wide-range of colleagues, attending socials and events, catching up over coffee etc., all contributes to the growth of your network.

Reflecting on these lessons learnt, would not have been possible without the coolest mentor in London, Mohamed. My favourite part of the day would be our sessions where we would sit down and discuss a new task, its purpose and then implement it. Some days were harder than others but nonetheless I still enjoyed it. With that said I would like to deeply thank him for his continuous support and belief in my abilities. He was willing to assist a young student like me at a time when work was very busy for him and he does it without expecting anything in return.

I also had the pleasure of working down at the Kings Hill office for the day, to get a better over view of what a management accountant role entails. In light of that day, I also would like to personally thank Cara and the rest of the team who took the time to explain concepts and helped me understand how the job of a financial analyst and management accountant complement each other and seeing how the two roles have the power to drive a business forward.

Lastly, I would like to give thanks to Iswada, for the possibility of my placement would not have happened without the organisations fantastic support and guidance.

In hindsight, I believe the key thing to take away from any form of experience is the skills you have gained and more importantly, the personal achievement you feel. To Mohamed, Cara, Dipi, Kathryn and everyone at UBM, thank you for being a part of my amazing journey. I can’t wait to see what’s in store and hope to work with you all again."