Student profile – Professional Placement Year 

Graduating year: 2026
Course studied: BSc (Hons) Business and Management (Festival and Events) with PPY

Charlotte completed a placement at Searcy’s at the Pump Room. 

What does your role encompass?  

As the Events Coordinator for the catering company, I discuss with clients what type of catering they want and guide them through the process of organising which food and beverage service they want for the events. It extends to recommending and advising them what would work best in such an old venue, such as the Roman Baths and Pump Room.

A lot of the time, people come in with all these big grand ideas, and I'm there trying to steer them in the right direction. Obviously we try and give them what they want as best we can, but one time we had somebody say, “can we bring down some more sofas into the Roman Baths?” and we were like, “no, perhaps that's not going to work because that's going to damage the floor.”  

I also help with the biannual wedding open evening. I started my role in June and my first one was in October, which was quite daunting, and then I had another one in January. So that is to introduce prospective couples to the venue and, essentially, sell what we have to them and get them on board with holding their wedding here.

Why did you choose this company or the particular role?  

I was already waitressing at the Pump Room, so I started that in March and it was actually at one of my placement appointment meetings that she suggested looking internally where [I was] working and considering speaking to those who were in my current role. I'd say enquiring, going out and finding different placements is always super valuable, but sometimes that phrase, “it's not what you know, it's who you know” can be super valuable.

So, it was just me going up to my manager, my now manager, and being like, you know, is there any chance you've got any spaces for me and it was just right place right time and sometimes it can be as simple as that.

How did you feel before doing your placement, and how did that evolve as it went on? 

It obviously did help that I had that initial knowledge; I knew everyone, and I had that ability to go up to my manager to ask her the question. I was definitely nervous as I'd never worked in an office or corporate setting before.

It's quite a daunting thought that I'd be discussing with clients one of the biggest days of their lives or corporate dinners that can hold a lot of money behind them, but I came to realise that is all natural, you know, no one's going to expect you to know it all right away.

And that is kind of the whole purpose of the placement, to learn by doing and begin to gain that knowledge needed for your career.  

As I've progressed, this has definitely eased. I've made mistakes along the way, but as I said, no one will expect you to be perfect and pick it all up on day one. I've been in the role for a year now and, to be honest, it took me not until this year to feel comfortable to take control of face-to-face client meetings. And so, I'd be fine, you know, sending emails, on the phone, but probably around January was when I started to be like, right, I can now deal with a client on my own face-to-face.

What have you gained from doing a placement?  

Due to parts of the venue being 2000 years old, you do need have the ability to steer clients in the right direction, as this can be quite a restrictive place. And, in order to do so, [I've developed] my skill set of communication and client direction – and as silly as it may sound, I was a quiet and shy person – but the placement year has definitely developed my skills on being able to lead and direct a conversation. I think, if you asked me to do the interview this time last year, I probably would have said no.

But I'd say confidence 100%. I'd say networking has been such a big one as well. And I've always kind of lacked in leadership skills, and it's not there 100% yet, but from where it was a year ago, I've grown so much.  

How do you see your placement helping with your degree and your future career? What are your future career aspirations?

My future career aspirations have become more solidified now I've taken the placement. I'd say definitely in event management or working at a specific venue in the South West and then maybe, eventually, once I start growing my confidence, I'll start my own wedding planning business hopefully. But we've got to make the steps and strides to get there, and my placement has definitely set the foundation to begin that process.

If I'd never done this placement, I would not have been in contact with any of the companies or wedding and events planners and wouldn't have known about them either.

Having that this placement's given me the initial contacts, so I'm not just emailing people out the blue, I've got first step in the door essentially. I'd say this networking is probably one of the biggest [benefits] to me, as those connections are where I might take my future career.

And as cliché, as it sounds, this placement has definitely opened so many doors and opportunities for me. I will definitely be able to apply my experience and my degree and Dissertation. With one of the modules being event planning, I'm hoping I'll be able to apply my decision-making and leadership skills to my degree and be able to lead the event planning.