One of the most valuable lessons I learned was the importance of speaking up. Whether managing workloads or meeting deadlines, I discovered that honest and proactive communication is essential. Learning to raise challenges early rather than struggle in silence gave me greater confidence and helped me become a more effective professional.

Although my placement role sat within marketing, working in a smaller organisation gave me exposure to multiple departments, particularly finance. Throughout my year at Crayon UK, I built strong relationships with both the UK Finance Director and the CFO for Western Europe, who became informal mentors. They offered valuable insights into their careers and allowed me to observe aspects of their work. Through these experiences, I realised that I was more interested in finance than marketing.

Even though I continued working for Crayon during my final year and received a return offer for a full-time marketing role, I decided to pursue opportunities within finance. Armed with the confidence and experience gained from my placement year, I applied to several leading finance firms and successfully secured a graduate position with BDO, one of the UK's leading accountancy and advisory firms.