Looking to enhance your time at uni and boost your employability? These five tips should help you get started.
A placement year can give you valuable work experience and looks great to graduate employers. Here’s some tips on how to be successful in your placement search.
Think about your goals
Before you start applying for placements, take some time to consider what you want to gain from completing a placement year. This includes career goals, what type of experience you want, and what skills you want to gain or develop further. You also need to think about practical considerations like distance, location, and money. This will help you narrow down your options and help you to get the most out of your placement.
If you know which career you want to pursue after graduation, then you could research relevant companies and apply to those. If you don’t know what you want to do after graduation, don’t worry; a placement year can help you figure out what sort of work you enjoy and which industries interest you. If you completed your placement but decided that particular role wasn’t for you, then you’ll still have gained valuable experience and transferable skills.
Whether you know what career you want to pursue or not, it’s helpful to think about the skills that you need for potential career options. Do you need to develop your technical or scientific skills? Do you need to build upon your planning and project management skills? Reflecting on which skills you have and which skills you want to develop can help you to decide which placement roles to apply for.
Get some work experience
A part-time job or volunteering work can increase your chances of getting a placement. It doesn’t have to be related to your degree or desired placement role. Work experience provides you with transferable skills and something to talk about in an interview.
For example, a retail job can help develop soft skills like communication, problem-solving and teamwork. These skills are often asked about in interviews and having recent examples to talk about will impress employers.
Additionally, having work experience means you’ll be able to provide placement employers with a reference. Things like good punctuality and teamwork will show placement employers that you are worth taking on. These are qualities that potential employers will look for and work experience can demonstrate these qualities.
Use your university’s services
Your university’s careers service is there to help you with any career-related matters, including securing a placement role. They are likely to have industry connections and know when certain companies start advertising placement roles. You may have to apply for some roles (such as hospital placements) through your university’s career service. They can also help with making speculative applications to companies that haven’t advertised placement roles that may be able to offer you a placement.
Research the industry
As with any job, it’s vital to research the companies and roles you’re applying for. This includes the company’s products, services, values and achievements, as well as any recent developments in the industry. In addition, you should do some research on the placement role so that you know what your main responsibilities will be. Testimonials from previous placements students can be useful, as can LinkedIn.
You can use LinkedIn to find previous placement students and current employees, and politely ask them what it’s like working for that company. Make sure to include what you learn from this in your application and interview. Good industry knowledge impresses placement employers because it shows that you are committed and passionate.
Be prepared to apply for lots of roles
It’s important to remember there’s a lot of competition for placements, so you might have to apply to multiple roles before securing a placement. Regularly schedule some time to search for placement roles and fill out application forms. This will help you to stay on top of things alongside your studies.
It can be hard to stay positive after an unsuccessful application, but it’s important to remember that rejection happens to everyone. It doesn’t mean that you won’t be successful with future applications. If you are rejected, ask for feedback and use this to improve your future applications. Focusing on what you can do better next time will help you to stay positive and improve your chances of securing a placement.
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