How can I make myself a competitive applicant for a placement year?

12

For context I’m currently getting to the end of year 12, but I’m aware that I have no experience that could qualify me for a work placement. I feel I have enough time to change this, although I’m not sure how I can do so with the most benefit. I hope to get onto the Managment course at Bath or Warwick if this changes anything.

Reply 1

McGinger

20

You dont need any 'experience' to be considered for a degree with an inbuilt work-placement - you don't need to have anything extra to 'qualify' for this sort of course. If you meet the entry requirements, just apply.

Reply 2

🐼PANDA🐼

OP

12

Original post

by McGinger

You dont need any 'experience' to be considered for a degree with an inbuilt work-placement - you don't need to have anything extra to 'qualify' for this sort of course. If you meet the entry requirements, just apply.

You still need to apply to the work placement yourself, not everyone who applies for one is successful and people get differing degrees of quality in their work placement depending on the quality of their application and connections, so I’m asking how do you ensure your application is high quality. It’s an oversimplification to suggest applying for a degree with a work placement guarantees it.

Reply 3

McGinger

20

Original post

by 🐼PANDA🐼

You still need to apply to the work placement yourself, not everyone who applies for one is successful and people get differing degrees of quality in their work placement depending on the quality of their application and connections, so I’m asking how do you ensure your application is high quality. It’s an oversimplification to suggest applying for a degree with a work placement guarantees it.

A work-placement within a degree course is handled by the University.
If you need more information about how this works at each Uni, then go to Open Days and ask questions, or just email/phone the work-placement team at each Uni.

Reply 4

dirtmother

9

Things are getting a bit muddled here I think and that is partly because of the stage you are at and the way you've worded your question. I am not really sure why what you need to be doing now would be any different to preparing for your UCAS application generally?

My son's experience with work placement was definitely that you had to do your own application (and this was for a year out which attracted an additional qualification and which you had to write up and present on during the year) - although the university did have regular relationships with some particular employers who visited campus, but otherwise it was like normal job hunting. His friends on different degrees with optional years out also had to find their own placements (again, there were some relationships) He did get a paid internship one vacation from someone who had contacted the course direct and the university advertised it to their students.

I'd agree with McGinger that open days and offer holder days are an excellent place to find out about this sort of stuff - one of the reasons my son firmed the course he did was because of the number of places a particular employer made available every year - which he was lucky enough to get. His girlfriend had to put in a lot more applications. He did have a small amount of prior experience in subject adjacent activities which she didn't have.

Reply 5

aspalax

Clearing and Applications Advisor

19

A university offering a placement year as an option is not an indicator that a placement year is guaranteed, or even that they will help you find one. You should expect to have to be actively applying independently and that the whole process may be entirely self-motivated, depending on the university, course and the team that manages work placements (which may even vary faculty-to-faculty) unless the course specifically states that placements are guaranteed, assume that they aren't.

You should ask questions about this to be sure.

Your university may be able to help you with things like reviewing your CV or interview practice. To help with your applications, doing some work that you can talk about/mention in your CV/cover letters that is external to your curriculum work for university (Showing that you are keen, self-motivated, self-disciplined) is arguably the most important thing. You also want to look at tailoring your CV and cover letters for each role and keeping up-to-date with opportunities as they are posted. You probably want to look at starting to apply from the earliest opportunity in your 2nd year for sandwich year opportunities.

Reply 6

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

If your placement is in your third year then you should be getting 12-18 months worth of support and guidance from your careers team prior to this.

It's unlikely you can do a huge amount to boost your prospects prior to uni, but I'd suggest continuing to engage with extra-curriculars that you are hoping to carry on to uni, (might make you better placed for positions of responsibility in societies). Short, relevant work exp would be nice, but the reality is that there isn't much of this about for 16/17 year olds.

Reply 7

Makro

15

Preparation for getting a placement is best started from the word go, i.e in your first yr. Most employers like to see a demonstration of 'leadership' and general interpersonal skills e.g negotiating, team work, motivating, listening. If all you've done is your degree, you will struggle to give examples outside of your academics. Join societies at your uni, intentionally. Don't just attend random places every week, choose a few and be active in them, this will provide you with things to talk about both on your applications and during interviews.
Remember, everybody on your course is doing the same degree as you, so what will differentiate you will be your work experience/ extra curriculars (top employers love sporty types so if you do any, continue it at uni also, it demonstrates your team working skills and ability to work towards a common goal). Volunteer where you can - if you end up at one of those mentioned above there lots of opportunities to even work on campus.. They won't expect you to have 3yrs working experience but will expect that by 19yrs thereof, you'd have applied yourself by doing some volunteering work.

There are opportunities to do remote project work, I know of Warwick business school in particular. A few weeks of remote consultancy work with other students from different universities, take full advantage of them.

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 8

🐼PANDA🐼

OP

12

Original post

by Makro

Preparation for getting a placement is best started from the word go, i.e in your first yr. Most employers like to see a demonstration of 'leadership' and general interpersonal skills e.g negotiating, team work, motivating, listening. If all you've done is your degree, you will struggle to give examples outside of your academics. Join societies at your uni, intentionally. Don't just attend random places every week choose a few and be active in them, this will provide you with things to talk about both on your applications and during interviews.
Remember everybody on your course is doing the same degree as you so what will differentiate you will be your work experience/ extra curriculars (top employers love sporty types so if you do any, continue it at uni also, it demonstrates your ability to work in a team towards a common goal). Volunteer where you can - if you end up at one of those mentioned above there a lots of opportunities to even work on campus.. They won't expect you to have 3yrs working experience but will expect that by 19yrs thereof, you'd have applied yourself by doing some volunteer work.
There are opportunities to do remote project work, I know of Warwick business school in particular. A few weeks of remote consultancy work with other students from different universities, take advantage of all of them.

Thx for the advice. Would doing placements now (end of year 12 and start of year 13) be useful? I’ve found some at the NHS, councils and the Red Cross. These are all in a business like setting, e.g. HR department. I’m not sure if there’s even much value in doing these things.

Reply 9

Makro

15

Original post

by 🐼PANDA🐼

Thx for the advice. Would doing placements now (end of year 12 and start of year 13) be useful? I’ve found some at the NHS, councils and the Red Cross. These are all in a business like setting, e.g. HR department. I’m not sure if there’s even much value in doing these things.

Take whatever work experience you can get, there is A LOT of value in doing them. If you've got something lined up at those places by all means, take them. Don't forget to ask who you should use for 'reference' before you leave.

Reply 10

De Montfort University

Official Rep

17

Original post

by 🐼PANDA🐼

For context I’m currently getting to the end of year 12, but I’m aware that I have no experience that could qualify me for a work placement. I feel I have enough time to change this, although I’m not sure how I can do so with the most benefit. I hope to get onto the Managment course at Bath or Warwick if this changes anything.

Hey there 😃

No need to stress about work experience for your placement year just yet! 😊 Of course, if you happen to find a relevant summer job or volunteering opportunity, definitely go for it, but it’s totally okay if you don’t. You’ll have so many more opportunities and much better support once you start university.

One of the first things I’d recommend is getting in touch with your university’s career support team early on. They can guide you through all the available options to build experience while studying. Many universities offer amazing opportunities like part-time or summer internship and volunteering schemes.

For example, I went on international short-term academic trips where we had workshops and training sessions, and I also completed both online and on-site internships. These experiences helped me build a strong and unique CV, which has been super helpful for both job and placement applications ✨

You’ll have more than a year before you need to start applying for placements, so focus on exploring and developing your skills gradually. It’s actually awesome that you’re already thinking ahead - that mindset gives you a real edge when it comes to landing something exciting! 🚀

I hope it will be helpful 🤗 Feel free to reach out if you have any questions 😉 You can also chat with me or other students directly through The Ambassador Platform.

Take care,

Julia
Psychology student
De Montfort University

How can I make myself a competitive applicant for a placement year?

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