Elspeth Holmes, University of Hull Graduate of 2021
All throughout school, I had an affinity for Maths. The practical application of it always came to me much more easily than any other subject. However, as I advanced through school, it became obvious to me that the theoretical side just wasn’t interesting to me, so I started to look for sectors where I could maintain my link to maths in a real-world context. That’s when I stumbled across a course entitled ‘Logistics and Supply Chain Management’. Within the day, I knew that that was the course for me!
When it came to thinking about placements, my lecturer recommended the NOVUS scheme, and I am so thankful he did! My year with Arla has quite honestly been the most amazing, educational year of my life. I was hired to be the Supply Planning placement student, and during the year, I have focused on developing my analytical skillset. In my first few months, I went from barely knowing how to use Excel to being able to produce several vital dashboards in Power BI surrounding bridging service gaps.
One of the main draws of Arla as a placement organisation, in my opinion, is the structure of the year. The first nine months, you spend in your hired role, but, in the final three months, you can go anywhere in the company that you can find a place. I chose to step outside of Logistics and join the Marketing team. This has given me so much perspective of just how critical each part of a business is. A company is like an enormous clock; it only works if all the little cogs mesh together. This year at Arla has given me the space and flexibility to discover where I fit in that clock.
I can honestly say that being part of NOVUS has not only furthered my career, but it’s made me excited for it to start!
