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Rishi Patel has always been passionate about cars and with help from the Business and Law placement team at Â鶹´«Ã½ Leicester (Â鶹´«Ã½), he’s been able to secure his dream role at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

The 22-year-old soon-to-be International Business graduate secured the role of Commercial Graduate having completed a year-long placement with the company as a Commercial Undergraduate.

A placement was always on the radar for Rishi after an inspirational talk with his college business teacher when discussing the next steps after A-levels. He knew there would be a lot of competition as a postgraduate and wanted to undertake a placement year to ensure he stood out.

To help him secure his placement, Rishi enlisted the help of faculty placement teams, which sit within each of the university’s four faculties and help students plan their career paths, and explore opportunities in Leicester and the country.

Rishi discussed his challenges, saying: “I was going through a tough time back then. I applied for around 50 placement opportunities and got a few interviews. The Placement Team were a big help and I wouldn’t have got it without them. From interview support to support with psychometric testing which was new to me, they were fantastic.”

From a psychometric test to a mathematical test, a video assessment and finally an in-person interview, Rishi soon found that his positive, willing-to-learn attitude would be the perfect fit for him and them.

Rishi added: “I’d love to help other students who are interested in a placement year and share my experience with them in a similar way the Placement team did for me.”

The role of a Commercial Undergraduate allowed Rishi to learn all about Tableau – “the new Excel for businesses”, build the department’s SharePoint site from scratch, get involved in JLR’s 2025 EV (Electric Vehicle) project and work with engineers on self-driving technology for cars.

Rishi said “It was all fantastic and I learnt something from everything. The corporate setting was the best part, to be seen as a professional rather than a student was really appealing to me and I’m looking forward to returning, as it will be even bigger and better.”

Born and bred in Leicester, Rishi was always keen to attend university and work in a business setting similar to his father who has worked in a corporate environment for many years. International Business stood out to him as he was keen to learn more about supply chains and he felt that this course would make him shine against the competition.

“International Business was my favourite module, as the lecturer - Irina Gokh - was so passionate and her love for teaching shone through,” said Rishi. 

Since finishing his placement year, Rishi has already started his “work bucket list” with the things he’d like to achieve in his graduate role over the next couple of years, including gaining the confidence to speak publicly at one of JLR’s events and driving a Jaguar E-Type.

If you’re interested in undertaking a placement year during your studies, you can find out more on our website.