What appeals to you about recruitment?
Speaking to such lovely, interesting people every day. I am pretty much a complete beginner to all things tech / finance and I absolutely love learning. I have placed a Trading Analyst but then also a GCP Engineer to a Business Intelligence Analyst – I get to chat to people about anything and everything and I am learning so much along the way.
So far, what’s the biggest takeaway from your placement year at Orbis?
To be more confident in myself and my own decisions. Like probably everyone, I am my own biggest critic – I doubt myself quite a lot and often I don’t believe in myself at all. Everyday, my attitude towards myself changes a little more for the better – I can do it! The proof is in the pudding, Georgia! That’s what I tell myself.
Do the skills you learn in recruiting and the ones you apply to your degree overlap a lot?
To be completely honest, not really! My degree is quite practical – laboratory, field work, scientific essays – I don’t often chat to someone about a role whilst knee-deep in a river. However, in my course I do a lot of statistical data analysis, modelling, mapping, etc and working here has helped me develop these skills massively. I have carried on free courses to keep the coding knowledge fresh, and I get to speak to experts on this sort of thing every day.
Would you recommend a placement year to others?
Absolutely. Taking some time out of uni and gaining experience will only ever work in your favour – it contributes to your degree, you make some money, it makes your CV a lot more impressive. I didn’t join uni with the intention of taking a year out, but I am so glad that’s what I’ve decided to do.
You’re probably the youngest person in the company right now, how do you find that?
All good! Just keeps me determined to always do my best and show everyone what I am capable of, regardless of age.
Lots of people ‘fall into’ recruitment, and often it seems like it’s not a main option presented to students and graduates. How did you end up on placement here, had you considered a career in recruitment before that, and do you think more students would want to hear about careers in recruitment?
I have heard that a lot of people ‘fall into’ recruitment, but I am probably one of the few people who went searching for rec roles! I originally applied for an Orbis role and I think it was advertised for grads, but I just thought I’d go for it anyway! Then had my interviews and we came to an agreement on a Fixed Term position until next July.
I have previously considered going into recruitment – I worked for about a year during Covid in internal recruitment / HR at Morrisons and enjoyed it so much that I split my search of Industry roles 50/50 between Geography related positions and recruitment / HR opportunities. I definitely think students would want to hear more about recruitment roles! Once I return to Leeds, I’m going to join the Year in Industry Geography committee.
What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned?
London isn’t as scary as I thought it would be. Also, how to use format painter on Word 😂
What’s been the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge was trying to coordinate the move from Leeds back to Peterborough and then to London, all whilst starting a new job and working at Morrisons too. I actually stayed at Morrisons until September so was working 6 days / week. It all seems like a little bit of a blur looking back! But I think I handled it all well – happy to be settled into my new home in South London.
What’s your highlight of working for Orbis?
The people. Everyone at Orbis is so lovely – from helping me to find a house, to answering technical work questions – I am never afraid to ask because I know that we have all got each other’s backs.
