Greater Anglia to boost university students’ skills through industrial placement scheme

Greater Anglia is offering university students the chance to gain skills and experience for a year through its industrial placement scheme.

The company, which runs trains from London Liverpool Street to destinations across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, is offering the paid placements to students in collaboration with the local partner universities at the University of Essex in Colchester, the University of East Anglia in Norwich, the University of East London in Stratford and Anglia Ruskin’s Chelmsford and Cambridge campuses.

The scheme is offered as the third year of a degree, giving students a chance to get real practical experience in the field they are studying in across eight departments – with everything from HR and marketing to IT and asset management on offer.

The successful students’ placements will start in September 2024.

Viktorija Novikova, Greater Anglia’s Early Careers and Apprenticeships Manager, said: “We are proud to offer the industrial placements to our partner universities across our patch.

“Our placement students have played roles in vital projects over the years, from being involved with the rollout of our new trains to assisting with marketing campaigns, and we can’t wait to see what the successful candidates can bring to the table this year.”

Some former students even have got full-time jobs with Greater Anglia following their performance and positive impact during their placement year.

Karolina Szpigiel, who completed her placement in marketing in 2022, is now the company’s brand manager, said:

“My industrial placement saw me work on projects from partnerships to digital marketing, gaining skills and a huge amount of confidence which was valuable not just in the office, but also when I was back at university for my final year.

“I would highly recommend the placement to anyone thinking about applying for it – you never know where it will lead and what you’ll get from it along the way.”

Mohammad Ali, who completed his placement in marketing in 2020 and now works as an Online Marketing Manager, said: “The placement is great – it lets you see what the 9-5 life is like, and for me, it was good as it helped me decide that despite my banking and finance degree, that wasn’t an area I wanted to pursue, but marketing was.

“I got a great taste of lots of different types of digital marketing with emails, social media and websites. I had a lot of ownership and I discovered myself more during my placement there than at university which was very valuable.

“I’d advise everyone to go for a placement if they can.”

Successful candidates, who will apply through their universities and be interviewed by Greater Anglia managers, will be paid £20,075 and get free travel across the Greater Anglia network during their time with the company, plus additional perks and development opportunities whilst on the placement.

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