SPENDING a year with one of the UK’s leading thermotechnology firms has proved hugely beneficial to University of Worcester business student Chris Watling.

Because he has now been signed up to Bosch’s student@Bosch Programme after spending 13 months on a work placement as part of his degree. It means that he will now be top of the list for jobs within the company when he finishes his degree next summer.

“My placement at Worcester, Bosch Group was invaluable,” Mr Watling explained. "My main role was in the product management department. This gave me the opportunity to travel and meet and negotiate with clients and customers; I got involved in research and development, manufacturing, marketing, I met and supplied work for directors, in fact I was given the opportunity to get involved in almost everything.”

“It was so important to me to get this real-world experience and to be able to put into practice all the skills that I have been learning as part of my degree.”

Mr Watling, who comes from Ipswich, is now in the final year of his business management degree at the university, and is hoping the year-long work placement will not only assist him in getting a high class degree, but also in securing a job afterwards.

“Being able to do a year-long placement was really important to me when choosing where to study for my degree,” the 21-year-old added. "All of the staff I worked with at Worcester Bosch were incredibly supportive and keen to help me learn."

Gary Mitchell, UK product management at Worcester, Bosch Group and Mr Watling's mentor, said: “The undergraduate role within UK product management at Worcester Bosch is very diverse and cross functional. Chris developed new knowledge and skills during his time with us and commented at his leaving presentation how it made the academic learning he had done to date at both college and university ‘come to life’ and has proven invaluable in supporting his final year.”