Alicia Maurette-Ury

I decided to undertake a professional placement year for multiple and diverse reasons. First, it seemed like a fantastic opportunity for solidifying the knowledge that I had previously learnt at Loughborough. Furthermore, placements are known to be valuable when applying for future jobs and can even lead in a lot of cases to a possible graduate job being offered at the end of the placement. I also valued this opportunity as it allows for any student to see if a certain industry may be right for them. Finally, the last reason that led me to want to undertake a placement was the possibility of extending my university experience for a little longer.

I decided to apply to Hugo Boss because I have always admired the company and loved the fashion industry. Furthermore, the fact that it would take place in New York City felt like the icing on the cake.

To my mind, the best tips that I can give anybody for succeeding in the application process are the following:

• Do not hesitate to use the university resources and services (Mock interviewers really help)
• Use your friends’ help with applications. They can practice interviewers with you and they are a great support to have, especially if they are applying themselves for a placement.
• Do apply even if you think that you are not ‘good enough’ for the company. I almost did not apply to Hugo Boss because I was anxious at the idea of being rejected but I am so glad that I did because the company saw something in me that I did not realize until after my placement happened.
• Make sure that you fulfil all the requirements and do not send your application too late because jobs often close earlier than what they say.

During my placement year as a Digital Marketing & Content intern for Hugo Boss, my days were never dull. I had to multitask a lot and work for various people in my team. Some of my responsibilities were to provide weekly performance, email, and social marketing tracking, analysis, and reporting. I also had to present trends on site traffic, conversion, and return-on-investment on all marketing initiatives during weekly department meetings. I assisted in facilitating onsite content roll-outs, shop development, daily quality assurance maintenance, and competitive site benchmarking. I supported the online buyer with seasonal buy activities and organize merchandising materials for future seasonal launches. However, if I had to pick my favourite responsibility, it would have to be the fact of being in charge of the preparation for each photo shoot including model castings, creating shot lists, preparing sample items for shoots and put away.

From what I can recall, I expected a placement to give me minimal tasks and only basic skills. However, during my placement, I was treated as more than an intern and given enough trust to fulfil certain projects on my own.

My biggest achievement during my placement would be the final project I undertook which was the 2019 Father’s Day online campaign for HUGO BOSS. This project was particularly important for the company as it is an important marketing and selling moment and by intrusting me with it, I was afraid to disappoint. Fortunately, all went well, and the campaign was very successful. I will always cherish this moment as it also allowed me to meet other creative people in the industry.

The biggest challenge I faced during my placement would be the moment my manager abruptly left the company followed by another member of the marketing team. I was left with no ‘official’ manager for a while and was asked to replace the employee that I had just left. In other words, I had to learn an entire job, being the email coordinator, in just a couple of days while only having interned within the company for a couple of months. This uncertain time was quite stressful at first, but it taught me so much and I am grateful for the faith that was put in me.

During my placement year, the key projects that I have worked on would range from the launch of new collections from both brands BOSS and HUGO, the multiple photoshoots for VOGUE, GQ and other magazines or even the introduction of new strategies for email marketing. They involved a lot of teamwork, communication and time-management skills. Overall, the outcome was positive as all of those key projects ended up being successful and gave me new skills to use for the future.

Thanks to my placement, my verbal and written communication skills drastically improved. Furthermore, to name a few, I learnt other new skills such as decision making, project management and planning and tracking skills. But most importantly to me, those new skills acquired appear to have really helped me for my first semester back at university as a finalist.

As I have mentioned in my previous answers, doing a placement has already benefited me in my final year as I have been able to apply the skills I have acquired then to my studies such as time management. When it comes to my future, I believe that having done a placement will definitely be an advantage for finding a graduate job or even apply for a masters.

I believe that any organisation benefits from employing a placement student. We are motivated individuals who only want to learn and are ready to give their everything to the company. Another important factor to consider is that young people tend to look at things differently and may come up with creative and transformative ideas.