Exeter student excels through the TUI Placement Scheme

TUI (formerly Thomson) the UK’s largest holiday brand, is celebrating its 10th anniversary of its Placement Scheme for the UK and Ireland business.

The scheme, which started on the 7th July 2008, welcomes seven to 10 university students who are in their third year of a ‘sandwich degree’ to TUI’s Head Office in Luton. Students embark on a full time role with the company for 12 months giving them great experience in a working role with plenty of responsibility.

Iona Wark studied Economics with Industrial Experience at Exeter University and graduated in 2014. After successfully applying to the TUI Placement Scheme she spent the third year of her university course on placement with TUI and since returning has gained full employment.

During her placement year Iona worked as a Late Trading Assistant in the commercial department focusing on revenue management for Cyprus.

After impressing during her placement year, Iona was offered a full time role after university as an Early Trading assistant. Since returning to TUI she has been promoted to Senior Commercial Manager and continues to be heavily involved in running the placement scheme as part of the management team.

Students on the placement scheme have the opportunity to work in three areas of the business; Commercial, Distribution & Cruise and Crystal Ski Holidays.

In the past 10 years, TUI has recruited 85 placement students into the business, with eight students currently on the scheme and eight more due to start in August. Since launching in 2008 students have arrived from all over the county from different universities including Leeds, Loughborough, Coventry and Exeter.

With a 45% retention rate, many placement students secure permanent roles within the business before returning to university. This allows them to fully concentrate on their final year of studies knowing they have a job once they have graduated.

A group of passionate employees volunteer to run the scheme alongside their day to day roles. Many of the management team first joined TUI on the placement scheme themselves, so know first-hand what makes a great placement year.

Commenting on her experience with TUI, Iona said: “I think the placement scheme is brilliant. It opened my eyes to an industry I hadn’t previously considered. The responsibility I was given in my placement year was far greater than any other placement scheme I have seen. You’re also given so many opportunities throughout the year. I spent time in other departments, worked on a number of different projects and presented to Directors.

“I absolutely loved my time at TUI and after trying a Graduate scheme with a different company, I realised how much I missed the TUI culture and the product.”

Past and present placement students joined one another last week to celebrate a successful 10 years scheme. Students attended an event at TUI’s head office in Luton to share some of their achievements and successes over the past decade.

A number of different university representatives will be meeting with the placement scheme management team over the coming weeks to discuss future applications.

Applications for the 2019/20 scheme will open in October 2018 with extra placement roles added. To find out more information on the scheme please visit - https://tuijobsuk.co.uk/work-at-tui-travel/graduates/commercial-placemen...