3rd Year Placements

Chalky87

Not strictly money saving I know...but anyone going on work placement next year, or already are on one as part of their uni course?

I'm finding it a little boring looking for one, all the positions available from the Uni site don't really light my fire. Any hints, tips on how to go about getting one?....it might save me some cash looking round (money saving bit).

...Also if you're on a placement, or were, are you enjoying it, is it worthwhile?

Colxfile

:beer:

I'm currently on the fourth month of my placement year. I'm working as a statistician / programmer and I'm having a nice time of it. The whole 9-5 lark isn't that much of a shock to me, as I worked for my gap year. For me, the work I do lets me put the theory into practice and it helps me remember it more.

My university does push the placement year quite hard (They sell themselves on low graduate unemployment, so a year's experience under the belt is a great help) so my department really made a good go of finding places for students and regularly kept on top of the latest openings. In addition, they invited us to send them our CVs and got someone in to draw all over them in red pen to say "Don't mention this here" and "Give this more prominence" etc.

But it boiled down to luck for me: I wasn't actually expecting to be accepted for the job I applied for. I sent my CV and covering letter off to one company and got rejected on the back of it (I may have cut it a bit fine with the deadline, though) I completed an online interview with another, started a second one and got a call up for the interview. I went to the interview ("Why not? Get the first interview under my belt.") and came back thinking "I went okay, but I wasn't exactly spectacular." so I went on a pub crawl the moment I got back. The following day, they rang me up to offer me the job while I was doing my shopping. :eek:

I accepted it and here I am a year later. The other online application was for Vauxhall Motors in Ellesmere Port. Some months later, they laid off loads of workers. Oh, how lucky I was...

Hints and Suggestions? Well...
* Finding it boring looking for work? Tough. It is.
* Why not get some friends who are also looking for something for placement year and try and see who can get the best placement? Fear of losing is a good motivator.
* If those suggested by the university aren't so hot, then keep an eye on all the big companies, and especially those in the field you really want to be in. Take the initiative!
* But don't be too narrow in the sector you look at to find your placement year. I was more inclined to go into banking / finance, but when this came up, it was more "Hmm. I'd never thought of that."
* START APPLYING NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! If you are turned down in January, you've still got time to find somewhere else. Having interviews clash with exams that may be a condition of acceptance is baaaaaaad.
* You cannot avoid an interview. Some coaching is a good idea. Friends, Parents, Lecturers, Tutors can help you here. (Or, if you're me, spend your holiday applying for temporary work and get turned down after the interview.) Does the careers service at your university have some assistance here? At least having an idea of the sorts of open-ended questions you may be asked is helpful.
* If you are doing an online application, print it off as soon as you see it and take your time filling it in. I must have sat on my successful application for at least 3 weeks before finally submitting my absolute-final-this-is-the-one-I-want-them-to-read version. If you do it all at one sitting, you'll forget something.
* Be warned: If you are successful in your one of your applications you may ultimately end up organising your team's Christmas lunch.

Hope this gives you something to go on. :j

Plum_Pie

I don't know what your current level of work experience is, but I'm 26 and have seen many friends/acquaintances who don't have have sufficient experience do far worse when it comes to graduate employment that those who do have it.

Colxfile's advice is excellent.

ftbworried

I got offered a full time position for when I graduated off the back of my industrial placement. I'd definitely recommend one (although i didnt end up taking the full time job). They also might put you through professional qualifications (that saves you money!)- they did with me.

Colxfile

ftbworried wrote:

They also might put you through professional qualifications (that saves you money!)- they did with me.

Oh yeah. That was pretty nice. We had an introductory course to get us into the statistics software SAS. The course was run by a representative of the SAS institute, who came to our office and was there for 3 days. Looking the costs of this up later shows it ran into a few hundred pounds per delegate per day. Ouch. I guess maybe they're hoping we'll go back to work for them when we graduate...

One more thing I forgot to mention: A placement year is not work experience: it is a JOB. That's the approach to take. That's how much effort must be put in.
Actually, I just bumped this thread to try and boost my ego.
Good Luck! Let us know how you get on!

retepetsir

I'm currently on my industrial placement year. My course is in electrical and electronic engineering and I am currently working as an engineer for Thales (big defence contractors for UK gov.)

Sometimes it can be boring (very boring!) but most of the time its good fun, great people to work with (very clever) and valuable experience. I am looking forward to going back to university though, and many of my friends would have graduated by the time I return.