Is CS With Professional Placement A Must?

Simply, is it worth applying to CS degrees with a professional placement? Is it more competitive and does it help significantly in the future? Thanks.

Reply 1

Rob Bellic

It won't be anymore competitive to apply to a BSc with a placement year compared to applying to a normal BSc. Some unis don't offer BSc degrees with placement years on UCAS, but they offer them to everyone enrolled on the course later on (after the 2nd year).

Generally, placement years do help you gain some experience, which would help you get your foot in the door after you graduate. Of course, it also means you graduate a year later, and miss out on some income (placement years don't pay you much ).

Reply 2

vxcvzxcvzx

Original post by Rob Bellic

It won't be anymore competitive to apply to a BSc with a placement year compared to applying to a normal BSc. Some unis don't offer BSc degrees with placement years on UCAS, but they offer them to everyone enrolled on the course later on (after the 2nd year).
Generally, placement years do help you gain some experience, which would help you get your foot in the door after you graduate. Of course, it also means you graduate a year later, and miss out on some income (placement years don't pay you much ).

Thank you very much!

Reply 3

Labradoodle1

You can be perfectly fine without a placement year, it's your choice really. Doing a summer internship is more than enough.

Reply 4

vxcvzxcvzx

Original post by Labradoodle1

You can be perfectly fine without a placement year, it's your choice really. Doing a summer internship is more than enough.

Thanks, do you know if you are able to "drop out" of doing one if the time comes I don't want to do one?

Reply 5

Labradoodle1

Original post by vxcvzxcvzx

Thanks, do you know if you are able to "drop out" of doing one if the time comes I don't want to do one?

I believe so?

Reply 6

Muttley79

Original post by vxcvzxcvzx

Simply, is it worth applying to CS degrees with a professional placement? Is it more competitive and does it help significantly in the future? Thanks.

It's essential these days - a whole year gives you time to have your own project and you earn approx £25K

Examples: https://www.ratemyplacement.co.uk/

Reply 7

Muttley79

Original post by Labradoodle1

You can be perfectly fine without a placement year, it's your choice really. Doing a summer internship is more than enough.

Not these days ..

Reply 8

Rob Bellic

Original post by Muttley79

Not these days ..

What do you mean? I know several people who jumped straight into CS careers after graduating without doing a placement year. Employers see it as a nice to have, that's all.

Reply 9

Muttley79

Original post by Rob Bellic

What do you mean? I know several people who jumped straight into CS careers after graduating without doing a placement year. Employers see it as a nice to have, that's all.

It's MUCH harder to get a good job there's so many grads to compete against. Maybe your acquantatancies were lucky - many unenployed CS grads

Reply 10

nutz99

Original post by Rob Bellic

What do you mean? I know several people who jumped straight into CS careers after graduating without doing a placement year. Employers see it as a nice to have, that's all.

The trouble is that currently there are simply too many CS graduates and not enough jobs. Go back 5 years and yes you could literally walk into a job but not any more. I have a friend who was made redundant last year. he has a CS degree and a Masters, years of experience and led a team of programmers in his last job. It has taking him months to find work. So you need to take any advantage you can over your competition. A placement year gives you that and it also gives you the opportunity to impress a potential employer.

Reply 11

Labradoodle1

While it is true that there is an issue with layoffs in the tech industry and a lot of difficulty finding jobs (which is an issue with most sectors in the UK - it's becoming harder to find a job in general), the unemployment of CS grads is overestimated due to sensationalism and fearmongering. I don't deny that there are things you should be doing alongside your CS degree to improve your chances (including spring insights, hackathons, internships, projects and problem solving practice). However, to say that the only way you'll stand a decent chance is to do a placement year is flat out wrong. There are so many universities that don't even offer placement years, and this includes universities that have some of the best graduate outcomes for CS. I'm not saying that a placement year isn't good to do, but it's not a must-have.

Reply 12

username7214188

Placement years help quite a bit imo - helps you gain experience and I’ve heard students say that sometimes the company they did the placement with ends up offering them a job after their degree!

Reply 13

Labradoodle1

Original post by e.rahm

Placement years help quite a bit imo - helps you gain experience and I’ve heard students say that sometimes the company they did the placement with ends up offering them a job after their degree!

True, but the same is true for summer internships :smile:

Reply 14

Rob Bellic

Original post by nutz99

Like Labradoodle1 said, there has been a general economic downturn in the UK which has hurt most industries. I know civil engineers, chemical engineers and people who did finance degrees who've struggled to find work. The only reason CS seems to be hit harder is because there was a large expansion of CS jobs during COVID which has now right-sized, causing what looks to be larger job losses. Maybe in 3 years time, when we all graduate, there will be a rebound. Just like after the dot-com bubble burst.

But you're right that you need to stand out as a grad in this current market. Work on soft skills, leetcode and programming projects etc when you graduate is the most important thing.