Martha’s placement took her to the Human Resources department at WarnerMedia. What has her placement as a Talent Acquisition Intern been like? Read all about it…
Hello! I’m Martha, a Management and the Human Resource student at the University of Leeds, currently completing my year in industry as the Talent Acquisition Intern at WarnerMedia. I have always been the most interested in the people aspect of Business, meaning both my degree and my placement role suit me perfectly!
I work within the HR team at WarnerMedia and focus on early careers. My main goal and responsibility throughout the year is facilitating recruitment of next year’s intern and apprentice cohort, however, there is so much more to my role! I have worked on many exciting projects to do with inclusion and diversity, early careers social media platforms and organising social events for the interns and apprentices – so much fun! These projects have allowed me to collaborate and form close relationships with various interns across other teams, meaning I have learnt so much about various departments, not just HR!
Journey to the placement: the application experience
I originally heard about WarnerMedia placements through word of mouth, and then discovered my placement on the Warner Bros. Placements website. The initial stage of the application process involved simply giving your personal details, in addition to answering several unique questions. These questions instantly made WarnerMedia stand out to me as they encouraged you to really think outside the box and show your personality, in comparison to the ‘generic’ questions I saw elsewhere.
The next stage was a video interview, where you were given several questions around yourself and the role and had to record yourself speaking the answers. For me – this was definitely the scariest stage! I think it’s easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself in this situation, however, I learnt it’s best to just be yourself and give honest answers!
Finally, I attended the assessment centre day. Although this did seem daunting, it was a really enjoyable day filled with fun activities and meeting new people! WarnerMedia created a welcoming yet professional environment, where I had the chance to work as a team in group tasks as well as sell my self during solo interviews.
Getting ready to apply for your dream placement? King’s Careers & Employability is here to help you with CVs, cover letters, interviews and assessment centres. For support and advice, look out for our career workshops on King’s CareerConnect, and our Action Stage resources on KEATS!
The placement experience during Covid-19
Overall, my placement experience so far has been amazing, despite Covid-19! WarnerMedia have provided us with all the relevant equipment and resources necessary to undertake our roles successfully. As a result of the many video calls, virtual social events and an extended handover period, I feel I have still had the chance to get to know my co-workers and fellow interns very well, which is lovely!
However, COVID-19 has presented some challenges! Due to not being in the office, I initially found it difficult to remember who does what and who was the correct person to ask for help with various things. To overcome this, I quickly learnt to always be proactive in asking for help and advice, and to never be shy! Although this was an obstacle, it has been a great learning experience and will definitely help me in future situations.
What inspires me about my placement?
WarnerMedia as a whole inspires me – I am exposed to incredibly successful and inspiring people every day. I have always been interested in HR and the film industry, and so working with true HR professionals within an industry-leading company has hugely helped me to shape my career path as well as massively improving my professional knowledge.
I’ve always been most passionate about the people side of the business. One example of this is diversity and inclusion, which I have luckily had the chance to work on this year! We have been given HR training on Race Equity and I have been involved in diversity and inclusion projects within early careers, which I have loved.
To other students thinking about year-in placements…
Doing a placement year is extremely valuable! Firstly, it massively helps you to shape your career path and find the role that is right for you. You can build a wide professional network and apply all your university learnt theory into practice, which will really help in both final year and your future. By gaining one year of experience, you can almost ‘test’ out a career without committing to it long-term. If you decide that career isn’t right for you, it is still a great experience and you can head in a different direction after uni.
Within this, a placement experience can help you to find the correct role for you within an area of work. For example, I knew I wanted to work in HR, but wasn’t sure in which position! Being exposed to the different roles has hugely helped me to gain a greater understanding of each role and which I’d prefer to have in the future.
Interested in getting on a placement yourself? Read more about what opportunities King’s offers from our Global Placements webpages!