GO Wales Case Studies

Luke Fox recently completed an exciting work placement at Brookes Dairy as a Brand Development and Marketing assistant. Brookes Dairy is based in Monmouthshire and produce high quality ice cream to Waitrose, Marriot hotel and The Celtic Manor hotel. Here is Luke’s story about his experience;

“I came across GO Wales on Google when I began searching for graduate jobs as my time at University was coming to an end. It became apparent that my lack of experience was restricting my chances of getting a permanent job; I decided to apply for a GO Wales placement to add experience to my CV. During the placement my main roles have been liaising with the company’s current customers to ensure that service levels were acceptable and to take orders, researching potential new customers before contacting them to arrange meetings, attending ‘meet the buyer’ events, plus arranging and attending in store tasting sessions.”

“The best day that I had during my placement, was when, with my manager, I visited the Celtic Manor resort to meet the buyer as they were considering using more of the ice cream in more areas of the resort. It included coming up with creative solutions as to how the ice cream could be located in certain areas of the resort, as well as strengthening the positive relationship between the company and the Celtic Manor.”

“Completing a work placement is a great way of differentiating yourself. It demonstrates to employers that you have taken the initiative in seeking experience and it allows you to build on the theory you studied whilst at university. It allowed me to improve my organisational skills in an office environment, and given me a reference from my manager regarding a role that is relevant to my chosen career path. It has also provided me with the opportunity to work towards a Professional Development qualification.”

“I have learnt many new skills during my experience including; working within an office environment; this gave me greater and more relevant experience in communications and allowed me to hone my skills in Microsoft Office. Other more basic but equally important skills and experiences that I have further developed include an insight into working full time, developing working relationships with other members of staff and working both independently and as part of a team.”

“The GO Wales process was very easy to use. After applying for the job, I had an interview with the placement company as you would when applying for any other job. I was subsequently offered the job by Brookes Dairy. A GO Wales representative came to meet me at my placement in my first week to put me at ease, explain what I needed to do, such as record what work I was doing and to complete the relevant paperwork. The representative then came at the end of my placement to finalise everything.”

“I would definitely recommend the GO Wales scheme to other graduates looking for work I believe that not only has the placement developed skills to make me more employable, but also given me more confidence and enthusiasm when applying for future jobs."