Discover how City St George's Micro-Placement Programme opens doors to opportunities including networking, career exploration, internships, awards and even job offers.
The Micro-Placements Programme (MPP) offers students a unique opportunity to explore careers outside their degrees through summer placements with UK employers. It aims to enhance employability skills and provide real-world business exposure. The programme includes a 15-credit module, lasting at least 4 weeks and preparation sessions.
Meet four students who turned their experiences into big wins for their career:
- Rohia Jallow, BSc Economics and Econometrics
- Keerthana Polisetti, BSc Accounting and Finance
- Stefan Lacobescu, LLB Law
- Junru Peng, BSc Business Management
Rohia’s marketing placement success leads to job offer at Momentum
Rohia Jallow (BSc Economics and Econometrics)
Rohia, completed her micro-placement as a Marketing Assistant at Momentum Transport Consultancy.
In her role, Rohia led a multifaceted project aimed at crafting a marketing campaign plan. The project allowed Rohia to develop a variety of creative skills, including creating videos, writing articles, and interviewing clients and employees for website testimonials.
One standout experience for Rohia was attending the Walking and Cycling conference at Guildhall. Where she learned about sustainability initiatives within the transport sector.
Rohia's hard work and efforts did not go unnoticed. She says:
"My proudest achievement occurred when Momentum extended a job offer for me to continue in the role of Marketing Assistant. This offer served as validation for the growth and contributions I brought to the team during the placement, marking a significant milestone in my professional journey."
Reflecting on her experience, Rohia encourages fellow City St George's students to make the most of the opportunity of a Micro-Placement.
"I highly recommend taking on a Micro-Placement. It's a valuable opportunity to bridge academic knowledge with real-world experience. It's an excellent way to step out of your comfort zone and propel your personal and professional growth. It especially helps in exploring an entirely new industry that you may not have initially considered but could find intriguing."
Rohia is grateful to City St George's Career and Employability team for giving her the tools to succeed. She adds:
“City St George's dedication to practical skills is evident in its amazing employability division through initiatives such as pairing students to a summer placements.”
“Personally, I am grateful for the cover letter and CV reviewing services which have assisted me in articulating my experiences effectively. These resources, coupled with diverse programmes on CareersHub and a supportive faculty, have been instrumental in accelerating my career development.”
Keerthana makes the most of networking opportunities and secures paid finance internship
Keerthana Polisetti (BSc Accounting and Finance)
Keerthana Polisetti completed her micro-placement as a Finance Intern at Vantage Point Global.
During her micro-placement, Keerthana gained hands-on experience working in a financial services firm.
“The Micro-Placement experience was one of the most life changing experiences for me as I got a real taste of how it is to work at a firm even before graduating from university.”
This experience empowered Keerthana to make more informed decisions about her career.
“Having networked with employees and clients from different departments, I got clarity about what service line interests me the most...I am so happy that I took upon this opportunity as it helped me immensely with my career decisions.”
Reflecting upon her experience, Keerthana is grateful to City St George's and the Micro-placements team for the support she has received.
"It is really hard for first-year students to secure an internship without any prior experience, and hence this programme is really valuable as it is very important to have practical experience alongside theoretical knowledge whilst applying for graduate roles after university."
"The Careers and Employability department has really helped me by providing schemes like CityBuddy, Micro Placement Programme and Professional Mentoring Scheme. They also provide many work-shops, events related to all courses and drop-in sessions for career related enquiries."
Keerthana's success shows how the Micro-placement programme connects students to more opportunities.
“I was successfully offered a paid internship for 3 months after Micro-Placement Programme (MPP) at Vantage Point Global. I am proud of this achievement, as it was a great opportunity for me to gain extended industry exposure and get more out of the programme."
Keerthana's video showcases a Day in the Life of a Finance Micro-placement student.
Stefan steps into the marketing world and makes his mark at Leo RegTech
Stefan Lacobescu (LLB Law)
Stefan completed his micro-placement as a Marketing Assistant at Leo RegTech, a financial compliance software company.
Throughout his seven-week internship, Stefan gained exposure to various areas of marketing, from article writing and social media management to market research and video editing. His role involved creating content for trending financial regulation topics such as General Data Protection Regulation, cybersecurity risks and artificial intelligence.
Stefan was tasked with creating a short forty-second video aimed at increasing the company’s presence on LinkedIn.
“My supervisor scheduled extra digital marketing sessions where I learnt how to use Photoshop, AI Illustrator and Premier Pro to engage consumers. To understand how the Leo software functioned, I asked a member of the sales team for a tutorial, which helped me market the technology’s use more effectively.”
Stefan also took part in market research, creating competitor analysis reports and proposing areas for improvement. This provided useful insights for the company.
“I was pleased to find that my supervisor genuinely trusted and valued my opinion as they proposed these ideas in the next Leo release meeting and the board seemed to resonate with them. This was very rewarding because, although I was just an intern, my ideas were valued across the company.”
"Aside from being very friendly and supportive, they gave me great financial, legal, business, and administrative perspectives based on their experiences, which have all helped to shape my future career ambitions."
"I would highly recommend applying for the City St George's Micro-placement scheme because it helps you to develop your confidence, networking, organisation, and, above all, commercial awareness."
After successfully completing the internship, Stefan received the "Best MPP Student Development" award.
Junru's HR research makes real impact at BD group
Junru Peng (BSc Business Management) with his Micro-placement hosts.
Junru completed his micro-placement as a HR Project Researcher at BD Group.
In his role, Junru took the lead in researching methods for improving employee rewards and benefits. Despite initial nerves, Junru was warmly welcomed by the HR team.
During his micro-placement, Junru visited multiple sites to interview heads of departments and frontline staff. This allowed him to build a greater understanding of the overall company and perspectives of employees.
“There was always time saved at the end of every day for me to reflect on the information and how it can be used to improve the staff’s working conditions. Since I was the only intern, I worked directly with the HR team, who was extremely supportive and were always patient whenever I had a question.”
His thorough research led to actionable recommendations that were well-received by the team.
“They were very happy with my findings, and I was very satisfied with the experience as well. The experience gave me deep insight into how HR in an organisation works and what their day-to-day jobs are while enhancing my CV. Currently, I am considering pursuing a master's in HR, heavily inspired by the experience.”
Junru is grateful for the incredible support he’s received from the Micro-Placement Team and City St George's Career and Employability department throughout his career journey.
“I absolutely love City St George's Career appointments. As an international student, I had little idea how the job market works in the UK. After guidance from City St George's Career appointments, I started by volunteering, then interning, and gradually building up my CV. This was also true during my MPP application, where the appointments reviewed my cover letter and helped me to be more specific. I am also relying on their help on my master's applications.”
At the MPP awards ceremony, Junru received the "Micro-Placement Student of the Year" award, highlighting his hard work and achievements.