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My name is Stephanie Barclay and I was fortunate enough to be shortlisted as a finalist for the TARGETjobs Management Undergraduate of the Year Award 2016, sponsored by Enterprise-Rent-A-Car.

I am always looking for opportunities to further myself and when I received an email about the Awards, I believed it would be a great opportunity and I decided to enter the management category. In doing my research, I saw that Enterprise Rent A-Car has won a number of prestigious employment awards and that the company is incredibly keen on investing in its graduates and this really appealed to me. In winning the award, a summer internship in the USA was also on offer and I knew that I had to apply as I am incredibly passionate about travel and discovering more about how business is carried out internationally.

After submitting my application, I took part in a number of online tests and a telephone interview. In taking part in the application process, I gained experience that will benefit me when applying for graduate jobs. I never believed that I would get this far in the application process, but much to my delight I was selected to attend an assessment centre at the European head office in Surrey.

I was both equally excited and nervous for my assessment centre. I wouldn’t have needed to be so nervous as it was a really great day! Everyone I met from start to finish at the assessment centre was lovely. We took part in a number of exercises, both as a team and individually. As everyone was so nice, I felt at ease and could evidently see that the ERAC team were wanting all of the students to succeed. I was incredibly interested to find out more about the business and about how each of the team members had progressed from starting out as a management trainee.

I was actually on a trip to Edinburgh Castle when Ashley called me to inform me that I’d made the top ten students and was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Canary Wharf. I was ecstatic and was trying really hard not to scream with happiness in front of all of the other visitors! The awards ceremony itself was spectacular and it was great to meet other members of the ERAC team and the other finalists. Fiona Bruce’s speech was very inspirational and a great day was had by all.

I am currently on my placement year working as a planning analyst at Repsol Sinopec Resources UK. I was offered a placement opportunity with Enterprise Rent A-Car but unfortunately could not accept as I had already organised my current placement. On finishing my placement year, I will return to Robert Gordon University to complete my final year of studies.

My advice for applicants is to put yourself out there. Everyone is in with a chance of winning: it is how you communicate why YOU should be the winner that matters so don’t be afraid to sell yourself!

Where are they now?

Planning analyst placement student at Repsol Sinopec Resources UK.