Jahee Ali is studying Business and Management at Leeds Business School, and here shares his experience of his placement year at Nissan (NMUK Sunderland). 

Course: BA (Hons) Business and Management

Tell us a bit about yourself and why you chose to study your course

Whilst at college, I never really had a clear career path or even anything I was interested in enough that I would pursue as a career. My interests ranged from radiotherapy to physiotherapy, all very science-related, until I decided to study Business Studies at A-Level. It was then that I developed a keen interest in business, so I decided to pursue it at university level. What led me to my decision to choose Leeds Beckett University was their teaching style, as it steered away from the conventional approach to teaching and gave students a more practical outlook to teaching business. The university also provided the opportunity to do a placement and, after studying the Operations & Supply Chain Management module, I realised that my interests lied in procurement.

Can you tell us about your placement and the role you’ve been doing?

To give an overview of my placement experience at Nissan, I started off as an Administration Assistant, supporting with general ad-hoc and support to the rest of the indirect purchasing team and the wider business. Roughly a month after my start date, I had the opportunity to look after HR with my then mentor, which enabled me to understand the various processes the purchasing team had to undertake, including running sourcing activities, reporting and presenting to senior management. After developing in HR for a couple of months, I was assigned the training scope (for all Nissan UK entities) where I sourced various activities that were training related. This included online and in-house training courses from a range of suppliers to be delivered to the entire NMUK plant staff and one of the bigger spends, leadership training for the Nissan Dealership Managers – all whilst maintaining my administrative duties.

What are the highlights of your placement and how has it helped you?

I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to work in a team that was both supportive and reassuring, but also had faith in me to work autonomously. I enjoyed collaborating with them daily and they made my time at Nissan a great experience. 

In terms of personal achievement, it would have to be my assignment to the Sales & Marketing department, something I also had an interest in during my time at university. For me, it was a sign of recognition for the hard work I put in during the prior 6 months. It gave me a sense of reliability and trust that my manager had in me as she believed I could look after a scope that covered all Nissan UK operations that had input on a European level, so I was immensely happy and grateful.

Of course, the test drive in a Nissan GT and the new Nissan Ariya wasn’t a bad highlight either!

What are your plans for when you complete the course?

I will have a small window to relax over the summer, so I’ll most likely book a flight for somewhere abroad! And then it’s back to reality and back to the professional world, as I managed to secure a Letter of Intent (LOI) meaning I can return to Nissan on the Graduate scheme, something AND somewhere I am very keen to continue my learning.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about studying your course or considering a placement?

Studying Business & Management at undergraduate level has so many benefits, not just at a theoretical level but at a practical level too. For me, almost everything relates back to business, so getting a better understanding of the different avenues that revolves around business is extremely helpful. Be sure to know what you get yourself into by researching, but I would personally recommend it.

For placements, I would also highly recommend applying. My advice would be to stay persistent and make sure you learn from your application experiences, it’s never easy getting it right the first time but by the end of it, you will become a subject-expert. I was very blessed to get the opportunity at Nissan, but I never would have been considered if I didn’t apply. Find your interests, give the applications a go, and have confidence in yourself. It’s an experience you most definitely won’t want to miss out on, and the support is there from Leeds Beckett too!