A Derbyshire chemicals firm has said it is taking on more students because it believes the company benefits from working with “bright young minds”.
Lubrizol, which has its UK headquarters at Hazelwood, near Belper, has expanded its student placement programm and just taken on 34 undergraduates from a host of universities for the next 12 months, the biggest intake of placement students it has ever hosted.
They have been recruited from both Nottingham universities, as well as Derby and Leicester and universities elsewhere across the country and have been put to work in position all across the company.
Twenty-eight students are based at Hazelwood, with a further six based at its site in Blackley, Manchester.
The company has created a new student role within its mechanical testing department and other students are working in a wide range of departments, including human resources, chemistry, finance and procurement.
The students are all in the third year of their degrees but, although they have never worked in a business setting before, Lubrizol is ensuring they are challenged and encouraged to make as full a contribution as possible.
She said: “I applied specifically for Lubrizol Hazelwood because I’m from the area and I knew it would be a good place to learn and develop academic skills in the workplace.
“I have already been carrying out a wide range of tasks, many of which I didn’t expect and are beyond the business-type responsibilities.
“I’m enjoying that, as well as the feeling that I’m being treated as a full-time member of staff, not just a placement student.”
Around 14% of Lubrizol’s total staff are former placement students or were recruited following an apprenticeship or a PhD partnership.
Sam Bradbury, Lubrizol’s UK human resources manager, said: “We began our student placement scheme a number of years ago as part of a fuller programme of working with universities and it has grown to the extent that many of our departments could not function as effectively without the input of their students.
“This is because we recruit only high calibre individuals who have repaid us by making the role their own and embracing the opportunity to bring their own talents and capabilities to bear on whatever task they’re set.”
Lubrizol is a subsidiary of US firm Berkshire Hathaway, owned by business magnate Warren Buffett. It is a provider of specialty chemicals for the transportation, industrial and consumer markets.
Its products include additives for engine oils and other transportation-related fluids, additives for industrial lubricants and additives for gasoline and diesel fuel.
