My placement year has been a blessing in disguise. I worked for two companies this year and both taught me important lessons and what my expectations should be like when I find a real job in the industry. With the European Bartender School and The Terrible Placement That Shall Not Be Named, I managed to mature and grow into a hardworking and motivated individual.

I started my placement year in August at a small company in Barcelona. As it was my first placement, I did not know what to expect. I had read blog posts before but there were never any bad placement stories.

It turns out that it was not a suitable place for me as the support was very minimal and there was a complete lack of communication. It became my nightmare job and I would arrive and want to leave straight away.

I began looking for other placements in late October after having been there for just two months. I didn’t find the perfect one until I saw an ad for the European Bartender School, also in Barcelona. I was reluctant at first to work in the same city after having a bad experience but the interview went well and I felt like it could be the place for me.

And I was right. I started working at EBS in January and I have not given a second thought to my previous placement as I have learned ten times more from being here for two months than being there for four. During my time, I have learned how to work efficiently by using software to help me become more organized. I am now confident about SEO and writing content that will be seen by lots of people.

The communication is outstanding, we have weekly one on ones and hold meetings when needed. I get a lot of responsibility and I am not treated as just an ‘intern’. The support is a team effort and no one wants you to fail.

As the Social Media Intern, part of my role includes:

• Creating new content such as blog posts and quizzes to engage with customers and generate new leads.
• Tracking and analysing metrics across all of our social media platforms and writing reports.
• Coming up with new strategies for our digital platforms to improve.
• Planning posts for our social media platforms.
• Engaging and replying with customers and leads on social media.
• Working closely with the Creative and Performance teams to work on new and ongoing marketing and campaign activities.

Things I Learned:

• Communication is important, everywhere! Studying PR, I’ve always known the importance of communication with audiences, but I never knew how crucial it was for a well-functioning and succeeding company. At EBS we have many platforms to speak to each other on as well as frequent meetings.
• Talk to your peers, talk to your university. I began to have doubts about my first placement very early on, but I wasn’t sure if it was self-doubt. It took me almost two months to talk to someone from university and ask for advice before I finally began searching for placements.
• If you don’t like it, leave! If you’re not getting the most out of your placement and feel like you can find something better, then leave. Of course, be patient as it might get better but if you have been there for quite some time and nothing is improving then it is not worth spending your whole year being miserable.
• Find a company that has time to take you on! As someone going into the industry for the first time, support and frequent meetings are important for me. EBS took the time to see how I was doing, to set up meetings and to include me as part of the company.
• Stay motivated! Just because a placement is going terribly, it does not mean that it is your fault. Do not let this experience completely define your view of the industry. During my first placement, I doubted a lot about the industry and myself but now at EBS, my love for it has returned and actually grown a lot stronger.

The point of a placement is to learn. You will discover new things about yourself and the industry that you want to work in. Whether it’s a good or bad placement, I guarantee that there will be something to take away from it that will be useful to you in the future. EBS has definitely helped me to become organized and has given me a lot of skills that I can continue to use in my career.

By Laura Salvada-Boussi