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Jessie - Business Trainee scheme

When Jessie finished her A-Levels she knew she wanted to continue studying, but she was reluctant to leave her hometown, or to build up big debts. “That’s when I looked into the MBDA Business Trainee scheme,” she says. “The combination of a full-time role and a full-time university course really appealed to me.”

Juggling two full-time commitments is a big challenge, but Jessie’s taking it in her stride. “I spend three and a half days a week in the company, and one and half at the University of Hertfordshire for my Business Studies BA. It’s a lot of work, especially when you’ve got exams or a lot of course books to read, but the managers at MBDA understand that and everyone is always really supportive. Plus I know that it’s worth that extra effort in the long run because in two years I’ll have a degree and four years’ business experience. Not many 22 year olds can match that!”

The scheme is carefully structured to give her a good overview of the whole business. Each placement lasts between six and nine months, and as she develops, so too do her responsibilities. “I started in Mechanical Purchasing, then moved on to placements in HR and Communications. At the moment I’m working as part of the Contracts team, and I’ve been involved in the preparation of a major bid, and even attended the negotiation meetings. Its fascinating to experience something like that first hand, and also to have such close customer contact.”

One aim of the placements is to help Jessie make the right decisions when it comes to choosing where to specialise after the scheme. “I’ve already worked across a lot of the company areas, but I haven’t made any decisions about the direction I want to pursue in my career- there’s still so much I haven’t seen and experienced.”