BU student awarded the Hays Employability Prize

15 November 2011

Sam Bidgood and Roger Palmer with sponsors Hays recruitment

BA (Hons) Business Studies with Marketing student wins placement prize.

Samuel Bidgood has been awarded the Hays Employability Prize for his poster presentation discussing his placement year with Dremel UK.

Hays, the global recruiting experts judged the posters and provided £100 House of Fraser vouchers for the winner. The finalists also had their posters displayed in a booklet, which were distributed to companies exhibiting at the Annual Careers Fair.

Sam secured the role of Marketing Assistant at the subsidiary of Bosch to spend his placement year. Whilst working for the power tool brand he achieved the highest turnover from any consumer show that Dremel had previously attended. Sam also created, developed and managed the company’s UK Facebook page.

Nick Longford, the company’s Brand manager has highly recommended Sam for future employment. Longford said: “The demands set on Sam were very high from the start. Sam took these demands and the associated tasks in his stride and always with a “can do” attitude and with very little supervision required from me.”

By undertaking a placement year, Sam believes his employability has improved and plans to utilise the skills he developed over the time during his final year at BU.

He said: “I have learnt how a huge blue chip organisation such as Bosch operates and I gained an insight into the world of sales, marketing, public relations and event management. I put everything into my placement and as a result got more than I expected in return. Doing a work placement has improved my professional development. I used the interpersonal skills which I have gained from going to Bournemouth University during my placement, more so than the theoretical knowledge.”