SIS has actively recruited students for 12 month industrial placements over many years, and has close links with universities, most notably Salford, which has a campus almost next door to the office in MediaCityUK. Over the years we have had over a dozen student placements, with Broadcast Engineering, HR, Marketing and Finance placements being particularly successful. The placements benefit both student and SIS – the student gains valuable work experience, whilst SIS gets an additional pair of hands and a fresh perspective.

The success of our recent placements is clear to see as five have returned to SIS for a permanent position. We managed to catch up with a few to learn a little about their placements and why they decided to join SIS post-student life.

Ellen Berry

Student Placement: HR (2016)
Now: HR Advisor, MCUK (2021)

Tell us about your experience of SIS and the work you completed while on your student placement (when, where, etc.)?

My student placement took place in 2016 whilst in my third year at the University of Salford. My role sat within what was then known as the HR Shared Service Centre at the Media City offices. Day to day, I supported colleagues through stages of the employee life cycle – providing recruitment support, payroll and benefit admin, onboarding and offboarding, and everything in between.

Within a few months, I began supporting various projects, such as the student intake for the following year. I also took external training courses in Excel & CIPD -HR for beginners.

I absolutely loved every minute of my time at SIS because everyone I worked with was friendly, supportive, and encouraging of my development.

What do you feel was the most important thing you learnt while on your placement?

It isn’t easy to pinpoint one exact thing I learnt whilst on placement because I learnt so much!

Having the opportunity to work in a small team, learning first-hand from HR practitioners with a wealth of experience and knowledge, gave me invaluable insight into the different roles within the HR function and the roles we all play to provide the best possible support to our colleagues.

What advice would you give anyone interested in a student placement?

Don’t hesitate and just do it! Even if you’re not sure it’s the path you want to take (I studied Marketing).

Having the opportunity to work within a professional setting will help you to develop various skills to take to any career. It’s also something to talk about when you leave university and start applying for jobs. I found that prospective employers were keen to hear about my experience, which became a talking point during interviews.

What did you do during the time between placement and returning to SIS?

After completing my placement, I went back to university and graduated in 2018. I then spent three years working as a HR Coordinator within the manufacturing and financial services industries. In these roles, I built on my HR and Payroll experience in new and challenging regulated environments. I was also able to build on my knowledge of policy application and supported a function through a period of transformation.

What made you apply to come back and work at SIS?

My previous employer made some internal changes to the structure of their HR department to support the organisation’s growth. Unfortunately, this resulted in outsourcing some areas of HR work to external providers, leaving little room for progression.

I saw that SIS was advertising for a HR Advisor for a 12-month period, so I applied and was lucky enough to be offered the role. This role will now give me the exposure I need to the areas I am keen to develop.

What has changed since your placement?

Quite a lot has changed as a result of the past year! The implementation of Remote First is quite an obvious change! My role now has completely evolved, and I work closely with a new area of the business – 49CG. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve been involved in such a wide range of activities as this business area begins its growth strategy.

I’m excited about what’s to come, and I’m so grateful to be given this opportunity.

Gemma Hawkes

Student Placement: SIS LIVE Marketing (2017)
Now: Marketing Executive, MK (2021)

Tell us about your experience of SIS and the work you completed while on your student placement (when, where, etc.)?

I did my placement year while studying at university at SIS LIVE back in 2017. Based in Milton Keynes, I worked alongside the Marketing team, where I assisted in various tasks, including the planning and delivery of exhibitions, updating the company website, taking accountability for all social media channels, and supporting the sales teams with presentations, tenders, and ad hoc tasks.

What do you feel was the most important thing you learnt while on your placement?

Over the year, I learnt that confidence is vital, and partaking in my student placement definitely helped build my confidence massively. While not only developing my marketing skills, I also developed my commercial awareness through working within the professional industry we are in.

What advice would you give anyone interested in a student placement?

I would say, don’t give up on searching. Finding the perfect placement is hard as it is very competitive, and it often feels easy to give up. I would also take advantage of your university and the resources they offer. I was lucky enough to receive practice interviews and CV workshops which helped a lot.

What did you do during the time between placement and returning to SIS?

Over the past four years, I finished my university degree and graduated with a first.  After university, I started a job within a Marketing Agency, where I stayed for two and a half years. While there, I noticed a job advertisement at SIS and was lucky enough to be offered the role I am currently in.

What made you apply to come back and work at SIS?

I returned to SIS as I had such a positive experience during my placement year. Although I worked at SIS LIVE, I did have some communication with SIS, and the level of professionalism and friendliness was always relayed to me, which I really valued.

What has changed since your placement?

Since my placement year, SIS has developed a lot with investments into Competitive Gaming and 49’s. There are various new layers to SIS, and I can’t wait to get stuck into my new role.

Keeley Groom

Student Placement: Finance (2017)
Now: Management Accountant, MCUK (2019)

Tell us about your experience of SIS and the work you completed while on your student placement (when, where, etc.)?

I completed my placement year with SIS after my 2nd year at university studying Accounting and Finance. I was based in the Salford office and worked within the Finance department. As a finance student placement, I got involved in lots of different work for Purchase Ledger, Credit Control, and Management Accounts.

What do you feel was the most important thing you learnt while on your placement?

My time on placement taught me so much more than I was expecting. Not just the ‘finance’ side of learning how to complete month-end accounts or dealing with customer queries, I gained so many new personal and professional skills.

I was always quite shy and anxious growing up. My placement year helped me grow as a person and gain a lot more confidence. Being able to apply the knowledge I had learnt at uni during my placement year helped me gain more confidence in my abilities and motivated me for my final year.

What advice would you give anyone interested in a student placement?

Do it!! When I was applying for student placements, I wasn’t really that interested as I didn’t understand the benefits. My outlook was if I was lucky enough to get one, then great, but if not, I could just go straight into the final year of my studies. However, I think placements are so beneficial and help you put all the textbook knowledge into practice and gain some ‘real-life’ experience.

What did you do during the time between placement and returning to SIS?

After placement, I returned to university to complete the final year of my degree. I graduated with a first-class honour’s degree in Accounting and Finance (I’m sure the Finance team will say they had a big part in this-they did!) and then returned to SIS as a Trainee Accountant.

What made you apply to come back and work at SIS?

After returning to uni, I stayed in touch with the Finance team and always wanted to return to SIS after completing my studies. I learnt so much during placement and felt I gained a good understanding of the business and especially how the Finance department worked.

I was excited to get back and be given further responsibilities. SIS are really encouraging with training requirements and agreed to help me with my professional exams.

What has changed since your placement?

I returned to SIS as a ‘Trainee Accountant’ and have just received a promotion to ‘Management Accountant’ whilst I continue my professional exams.

Even though the office has changed with the new hot desk system, the working environment is still the same. Everyone is always so helpful and is such a nice place to work.

Visit Our Careers Website