Declan spends amazing Year in Industry

A student from the School Of Business has shared the story of his “amazing” year in industry working for a global entertainment brand.

Deciding to pursue a year of work experience, BA Management student Declan Murphy was able to pause academic study in order to gain insight into his preferred career avenue.

Securing a highly competitive placement, Declan said: “Roles can vary massively, from analytics to finance or journalism- but I was most interested in finding something that was management specific and related to my studies.”

Located in the EMEA licencing and UK retail departments, Declan’s remit was multi-faceted, describing his role as a New Business and Promotional intern.

In his licencing role, Declan’s responsibilities were focused around the delivery of promotional goods- communicating on a daily basis with licensees regarding account management, and providing franchise updates to help licensees through approval processes for promotional items such as giveaways for events and loyalty programmes.

Declan said: “Working in licencing meant that I was able to interact with both the studios team and the communications team. I got a really broad spectrum of what the company does, which was very exciting for me.”

The other element of Declan’s role, working in the New Business Development Team for the UK office, looked to expand the brand in new and exciting ways- which saw Dec working on a number of interesting projects throughout the year.

Declan said: “My Year in Industry experience was amazing, and I think that it will give me a stronger platform in my career now. I gained new skills such as account management and relationship management, and it was great to work for a company with such prestige.

“The year in industry is invaluable for gaining experience. The job market for graduates is so competitive that a degree on its own is potentially not enough anymore. It’s important to have something that can make you stand out, and I think that spending a year working in a field that interests you helps you do that.”

• Read more Year in Industry student profiles from the School of Business here