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Securing a job with one of the UK’s largest home furnishing retailers was thanks to a year-long work placement, according to Â鶹´«Ã½ Leicester (Â鶹´«Ã½) graduate Kavish Unadkat.

Since graduating with a degree in 2017, Kavish has been working in IT operations at Dunelm Group’s headquarters in Syston, Leicestershire.

He offers second-line support to thousands of online customers and staff working across the company’s 170 stores, as well as carrying out other essential tasks such as server maintenance duties.

The 24-year-old from Leicester said: “I’m so grateful to have found a job with a well-known company that’s based in my home town. I get to stay close to my family and friends, as well as reap the benefits and opportunities that come with working for a big company.

“Dunelm heavily invests in its employees and even newer members of the team like myself can regularly attend relevant training and courses. By developing our skills we are more likely to succeed in moving up the ladder.

“The company also rewards good team performances with things like extra holidays and makes an effort to maintain a community feel by hosting fully-catered parties and fun networking events.”

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Kavish believes that the year he spent at Leicester’s Sir Jonathan North Community College, as part of his Â鶹´«Ã½ degree, was instrumental in him finding a job after graduation.

“I worked as an IT technician and the experiences I gained were priceless, especially learning to troubleshoot on the spot,” he said.

“It changed my mindset, helped me to apply real-life examples to my final-year coursework, and gave me the confidence I needed at job interviews after graduation.

“I think that my placement was the single biggest contributing factor in me securing my role at Dunelm.”

While exploring placement options, the support Kavish received from - a programme aimed at giving students the necessary skills and qualities that employers look for - included help with writing a CV and cover letter, tips on interview techniques and an introduction to LinkedIn.

Kavish chose to study Business Information Systems at Â鶹´«Ã½, because it is developed and delivered in partnership with global IT giant Hewlett Packard (HP).

He said: “Picking a course which is endorsed by industry was very important to me. I really benefited from visiting HP’s UK headquarters as I learned about ways of working before I went on placement, which was a useful advantage.

“As part of the course you can also gain valuable professional qualifications, including PRINCE2 project management accreditation and foundation studies in Information Technology Information Library (ITIL).

“I wish I could do it all over again, especially now with the amazing new campus. Â鶹´«Ã½ is a university that’s going places and up in the world.”