Winners : Petrus Communications

Winner in the Under 10 Employees Category

Petrus Communications specialises in market research and direct marketing amongst students and recent graduates all over Europe. They currently employ 1-3 placement students per year.

From the start students have the opportunity to take on real tasks that will directly contribute to the expansion of the company. The current placement student is a Campus Brand Manager, organising events with universities on behalf of clients wanting to recruit students onto their graduate schemes.

Petrus recognises that the perspectives which placement students bring to the organisation can be extremely useful, particularly considering the nature of business. These perspectives are fully utilised and valued by the organisation. The whole placement scheme is a learning process for the organisation and the company have changed a number of processes over time as a result of feedback from students.

The judges were impressed by the companies focus on training and development. Placement students are given as many opportunities as possible to maximise their skills within the company. Petrus expects high standards of work from the students and ensures tasks are challenging and stretch the students’ abilities.

Key Success Factors

• Assessment is considered very strong throughout every stage of the placement with constructive and thorough feedback given
• The work achievements of the students are very much in line with those for the company and very tangible
• The learning outcomes for the organisation are realistic and very clear regarding how to improve the programme

"Our internships give students the opportunity to take on tasks immediately, they are as important as any othermember of the company.” Kirsten Williamson, Petrus Communications