Seriös Group Work Experience - A students view

Rosie Hundrup joined us for a week of work experience from the 4th July, as part of her activities we asked her to write a blog on what she's been doing, read all about how she's found her experience below.

After the opportunity arose to complete work experience, I contacted Seriös Group as I had an interest into exploring how different departments in a business operate together to become successful. During the preparations I conducted for my work experience placement, I spoke with the directors who made me feel I would be welcomed into the team. After my placement was confirmed, we worked together to arrange an overview of how the week would be scheduled which allowed me to research the skills which would help me throughout.

As the company has had a rapid rate of success, I expected to significantly develop my skills. By working with specialists, I have learnt vital new skills which would help me in the workplace and in day-to-day scenarios. I was aware this experience could be used to enhance my CV to give me an advantage when applying to future opportunities.

Each day I was paired with a different member of the team from a selection of departments to gain an understanding into how the departments operate and contribute to the growth of the business.

I was welcomed into the team on Monday where I was introduced to colleagues in each department. This gave me the courage to work with a range of people who all had different perspectives of the company.

Day One

The week began with an induction where I was given a guided tour of the office and a briefing on the health and safety requirements within the building. Following this, I was allocated a desk to set up my workspace prior to working closely with the managing director. This give me experience of how the business operates daily, alongside gaining an insight into the aspects of the business which are often overlooked especially from people outside of the industry. This is where I was shown the business operations and future projects which are currently taking place. As well as a working lunch at Pizza Punks!

After gaining more confidence in my understanding of the business, I completed independent tasks set by my manager which utilised and developed my skills. This included confirming changes to an updated organisation structure which helped me identify the job roles within each department. I checked planned social media posts to increase engagement with clients as well as watching data analytics animations which the business uses effectively to illustrate information to clients. This was advantageous to me as it allowed me to experience an overview of the company which, in turn, heightened my knowledge of the roles which take place at Seriös Group.

Day Two

I began my second day looking at testing with a junior consultant who started his role in the company a year ago as a modern apprentice. We contributed to a meeting which explained how testing works and the importance of the process to decision making. To expand my understanding, I participated in a demonstration of data being tested and found an efficient way to present this to clients, before testing my own data. This also enabled me to ask questions in relation to the various career pathways which this job can lead too from the perspective of a highly successful modern apprentice.

Day Three

Having previous experience studying finance throughout my business A Level I was happy to become involved in the finance department and get an insight into where finance can take me. To start this, I was given a thorough explanation of the of the finance and accounting positions within the business which was extremely interesting. 

I showed my skills by accomplishing tasks such as collecting receipts to calculate personal expenses via a spreadsheet, before submitting them into a system to be approved. 

During the afternoon, I worked closely with the finance manager to discuss finance changes as a result of expanding the office to accommodate for new staff joining the team. This included analysing contracts and invoices to confirm they were correct. I also notified colleagues via email of an event coming up, for which I booked allocated desks for each team member who was attending. This aided my organisation, time management and planning skills which will support me in future occupations.

Day Four

I started the day working in the data analytics team, I listened to a brief explanation and demonstration of an application called Tableau which converts data into a clear graphical visualisation. I then completed tasks to pull data into dashboards where trends and comparisons could easily be recognised. I contributed to a ‘lunch and learn’ whole team meeting which began with a general company overview of the last fortnight, including introducing new employees. This was followed by one consultant who had volunteered to present a topic and give a general explanation of the project they were working on. This session gave people the opportunity to build presentation skills and allowed them to give suggestions for improvements which is beneficial as it increases the work ethic of the team.

Day Five

To complete the week, I analysed some social media posts to influence my blog writing and assist with writing this article. I then went through the process of publishing this blog to the Seriös Group website.

Whilst working at Seriös Group, I have been able to gain experience in several departments in order to broaden my knowledge of the business industry. Overall, I feel that I have settled into the team well and my growing confidence has been presented in my work throughout all areas of the business. This experience has been significantly beneficial and certainly exceeded my expectations. The weeks placement will definitely be memorable as I have enjoyed discovering the distinct range of departments and how they contrast whilst all contributing to the same goal. 

Everyone at Seriös Group has been really friendly and welcoming, the pizza was great too!