Placements and internships

Taking a placement is an opportunity to integrate the academic theory from your course with practice while developing your transferable skills and competencies. Employers increasingly expect graduates to understand industry culture and have commercial awareness, and this is hard to do without work experience. You will increase your self-confidence, motivation to succeed and your sense of professionalism.

Applying for a placement gives you the chance to experience the job application process, including interviews and assessment centres, and will put you in a much better position when it comes to securing a graduate-level job.

It’s a great way to have a clearer understanding of what career you want, all the time developing your personal network of career and industry contacts. Placements can be totally transformative to your outlook on your studies as they offer the opportunity to earn money, travel and start to become the early career professional you want to be on graduation.

How to find a placement

• Make frequent and full use of your university or college careers service.
• Pick up volunteering or work shadowing experience to give you something to talk about on your application form.
• Develop a digital identity to be proud of – if someone searches for you online they will find positive results and not things you would be embarrassed by.
• Sign up for vacancy listing services both in your university or college, and by external boards.
• Practise your interview skills, get feedback on your applications and be persistent.

Sarah Flynn, Chair of ASET

ASET, the work-based and placement learning association, aims to advance the prevalence, effectiveness and quality of work-based and placement learning in higher education.

Types of work experience

There are many opportunities to undertake work experience while at university. Some are competitive to secure, but the opportunities do exist. Opportunities vary depending upon your level of study. Below is a list of various types of work experience offered by companies.

Placements

Placements provide students with a rotation to various departments within the organisation. Companies often target students in their penultimate year of study or those who have recently graduated. Placements are longer in duration and often last for 6–12 months. Students can undertake a placement as part of their course or during a gap year. Placements often form the basis of the final-year dissertation, providing students with an opportunity to research a real issue faced by an organisation or industry.

You can gain an insight into the company, build a useful network and also review career options. If your placement is successful, the company may invite you to join the company following graduation.

A graduate recruiter’s view of internships

The early careers market is evolving at an alarming rate, students are more switched on than ever before and the competition for early engagement to secure the top talent has really heated up among organisations.

Internships provide us with a great opportunity to pipeline talent into our business from as early as the first year and hopefully then create a relationship that translates into future graduate positions.

From a student’s perspective it’s a great way to really experience the culture of an organisation, and gain valuable experience in the workplace. We absolutely use our internship and industrial placements as a pipeline into graduate opportunities.

Helen Alkin, Head of Future Talent Recruitment,
Marks and Spencer plc

Despite the vast range of opportunities presented in the table below, with 90% of the UK’s top employers offering some form of work experience, the market is still increasingly competitive. If students wish to undertake work experience, they need to do their research.

Source: The Graduate Market, High Fliers Research, 2016

Do a year out in industry

Here are five things you’ll get out of a year in industry:

• Work experience: The experience you gain through a year in industry will be invaluable – not only for your future job prospects, but as transferrable skills for your degree.
• Communication: Emojis and text speak won’t cut it in the corporate world. By being immersed in that environment you’ll learn how you can adapt your communication across phone conversations, emails and face-to-face meetings, as well as the difference between internal and external communication. So remember, when applying, keep it formal.
• Using people’s knowledge: You’re not expected to know everything and hit the ground running. You will be expected to learn quickly and get stuck in.
• Work/life balance: University is a lot of fun. You have to study, but a lot of time is leisure. During your year placement you’ll learn how to balance your business responsibilities as well as your life.
• Life skills: Budgets may not sound like fun but they’re definitely something you need to know about. With rent, council tax and travel you’ll learn pretty quickly how to manage your money.

Alex Field, Marketing Manager, RMP Enterprise

How to find work experience

Knowing the career you wish to explore is a starting point for identifying work experience opportunities. Research into your chosen career will highlight companies you may wish to work for and their websites will provide information about possible work experience.

Your search will be more targeted and focused if you have an idea of the company you wish to work for and the careers you wish to explore.

Use the careers service

The careers service at your university should be the first place you visit when trying to find an internship, placement or graduate role. You are not the first student to graduate from your course, so use its experience for their knowledge of recruiters, what they require, deadlines and opportunities.

Careers services often have websites where positions are posted, so register to receive alerts to your email address. (Do remember to check your inbox daily and respond to emails in a timely manner.)

Summer work experience with Shell

At Shell I was placed in the treasury department where I was responsible for updating the credit reports for 20 different Shell-owned entities. I had to use the company’s most recent financial statement and identify the relevant figures to input into Moody’s risk calculator. After I received a credit rating I would then compare this rating with their previous rating and discuss the results and the reasons for change with various treasury managers.

At the end of my three weeks I had to present my findings to all the treasury managers and my line manager. I learnt various skills in the process, including being more analytical, and now having a better ability to quickly read and process financial statements. I can also present my findings clearly and concisely.

As I completed all 20 reviews, I believe I developed the ability to deliver projects in the timeframe set and to the highest standard.

Michael Rene, Business Management with
Economics Undergraduate

Work experience in a marketing role

I attended a talk at the Chartered Institute of Marketing, where the speaker, Misa von Tunzelman from JLL, was talking about her career. This was the moment that I was not only attracted to marketing as a subject but had a hunger to find out more about JLL. After the talk I approached Misa and asked if we could meet for a coffee, as I would like to learn more about a career in marketing. To my surprise Misa gave me her card. I emailed her the next day and her assistant booked me into her diary. Our talk allowed me to gain an insight into the world of marketing, but also Misa was just so friendly I did not feel nervous at all.

I was therefore so excited when I was able to gain work experience at JLL. Enlightening, exhilarating and enjoyable are the three words I would use to describe my time there. I provided support for the JLL Property Triathlon, and also interviewed managers and rotated around areas of the organisation to learn more about marketing roles. A great experience. This opportunity was only possible due to me stepping out of my comfort zone at the CIM event. I would definitely advise students to attend professional body events, as it is a great opportunity to meet professionals in your desired field.

Melodie Trought, University of Sussex

The websites below are other useful resources for internship opportunities:

• Inspiring Interns: www.inspiringinterns.com
• Employment for Students: www.e4s.co.uk
• Prospects: www.prospects.ac.uk/work_experience.htm
• Graduate Talent Pool: http://graduatetalentpool.direct.gov.uk
• RateMyPlacement: www.ratemyplacement.co.uk
• Target Jobs: http://targetjobs.co.uk

How to find internship opportunities

When looking for an internship don’t just consider the usual suspects, the well-known corporates that run huge annual recruitment campaigns that are highly competitive and attract thousands of applicants.

Internships in sectors such as retail which are not considered so attractive can provide a wide range of hands-on experience, including staff management, customer care, money management, stock handling and control, skills and experience that easily transfer to other sectors.

Look at websites such as RateMyPlacement

(www.ratemyplacement.co.uk) to gain an insight into what graduates have said about internship employers across a number of sectors. Consider using LinkedIn to trace alumni from your university to approach for opportunities. Your university’s careers and employability service should also have a list of live internship opportunities for you to make use of.

Finally, if appropriate look out for internships aimed at addressing inequalities by targeting specific groups such as women, students with disabilities or those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Femi Bola, Director of Employability, University of East London

Your chance to demonstrate your employability skills

Applying for an internship, placement or graduate role is your chance to test your product in a live environment. The feedback you gain from your application, interviews or assessment centres will help you fine-tune your product.

Do you need to increase your skill set, or do you have the skills but your communication does not lend itself to marketing your features and strengths? Completing an application form and communicating your skill is an art and takes practice.

Review the skills identified in the I Brand employability model to see how you can best demonstrate your ability and aptitude for a role. Review all your extracurricular activities and the tasks completed on your degree and identify the best examples to support your application. Your involvement with voluntary work, sports or academic study will provide examples to strengthen your application.

Review the employability skills developed on your degree. Then complete the table below, highlighting the various skills you have developed and how they relate to the skills you need to be successful in the application process. Employability is built into the assessment methods, so it’s important to communicate how you have developed specific skills by completing your assessment.

Once you have reviewed your skills, look at your development as a result of your involvement with extracurricular activities. Highlight how your skills are relevant to the role, making specific reference to tasks or activities where you took the lead, showed initiative or negotiated a better rate.

Don’t be afraid of the letter ‘I’

All too often students review activities in the plural, saying or writing ‘We did this and we did that’. ‘We’ are not applying for a role so it is important to highlight the ‘I’ – your role in completing the tasks and your contribution.

As highlighted in the I Brand employability model, your contribution will be unique. I Brand urges students to reflect on their skill set and personal traits, which ultimately define what makes you stand out.

So refer back to the I Brand employability model and consider what specific skills you used or developed as a result of completing the task. Are you a strong project manager or good team player? In relation to your I Enterprise, were you innovative in your approach and how did you persuade your team members to adopt your suggestions? Have you undertaken presentations or report writing in the past and so were able to draw on your individual experiences to share with the group members?

Creating your I Brand is an individual process so no brands will be the same. It is not sufficient to develop the skills. Students need to also develop their I Marketing skills to ensure that their brand is communicated effectively in their application and in personal appearance.

Companies spend millions developing their brands and the qualities associated with them. As a new product – a graduate in the market – you need to invest the time to define the essential elements of your brand. Once you are able to define your brand, it will be easier to identify how your skills will be marketable in the graduate job market.

Work experience with small and medium-sized enterprises

SMEs represent an excellent opportunity for students to gain a wide range of exposure to business processes, roles and responsibilities. The very nature of an SME’s structure can provide students with opportunities to be exposed to far more responsibility than within a larger organisation.

In an SME roles are not as compartmentalised into departments, so there are more opportunities for you to excel and take on more responsibility. But only if you are good. The recruitment process in an SME is also more informal and so reduces the number of hurdles to secure a role.

Temporary to permanent roles

Temporary roles are an excellent way to access an organisation. Whether your role is for three or six months, you can use this time to navigate your way around the organisation to the department you want to work for. Build a network, offer your services to help, but above all else, shine.

If you can prove your worth, the company may be willing to take you on permanently or extend your contract. Temporary roles also help you to build experience on your CV to secure permanent positions. Securing temporary work is challenging as there is little training and companies expect you to hit the ground running. As a result, recruitment agencies only put forward those candidates who they feel can perform the tasks required and think on their feet.

Companies and organisations usually use recruitment agencies to source temporary staff. Due to the nature of such roles and the fact that very little training is provided, recruiters are looking for competent candidates, people who can present themselves well, think on their feet and adapt to situations.

How can you make your skills more attractive to recruitment consultants?

Temporary roles will usually be centred on administration duties or support functions. Your CV will need to highlight good organisational skills, computer skills, including MS Word and Excel, telephone skills and the ability to work independently.

Job-hunting for graduate positions

Finding a graduate position will require the same level of skill as hunting for an internship. Identify the companies you wish to work for, research their deadlines for their recruitment processes and complete the applications.

Finding the right company will take time, as each has its own process and set of requirements, but the more detailed your research, the more likely you are to identify the right company. When seeking graduate opportunities, company websites provide great sources of information about the range of positions available, deadlines and the career options. Other resources include sector-specific publications, the Prospects website (www.prospects.ac.uk) and graduate recruitment fairs.

Companies actively seek to recruit students through graduate recruitment fairs, both on campus and in exhibition halls. Details of these fairs are publicised through your careers service and by searching online. Graduate fairs present a great opportunity to speak with the employer and glean any additional information about the company and what companies are looking for in graduates.

What to do and not do when job-hunting

Think about the companies and roles that appeal to you most and investigate them further so you really understand what is expected in the role before applying.

Talk to recent graduates, friends, family and lecturers to determine where you are best focussing your energies.

Don’t be tempted to scatter your applications far and wide. You will have more chance of success if you target your applications to the five or so organisations that you really engage with from a brand perspective and invest time on those applications.

Don’t give up as there are graduate jobs out there.

Helen Alkin, Head of Future Talent Recruitment,
Marks and Spencer plc

Innovative approaches to recruitment

The graduate market has seen many companies attempting to disrupt their recruitment processes to encourage a more diverse range of applicants. In 2015 both PwC and Reed Smith adopted a new approach to their graduate recruitment. Both companies adopted different approaches to encourage applicants from a more diverse pool and also to reduce any barriers that may exist in their processes.

PwC’s approach to graduate recruitment

PwC’s intention is simple. We want to recruit the brightest and best people to join our graduate programme, irrespective of their background.

To help us do this we’ve removed UCAS scores as selection criteria for our undergraduate and graduate opportunities. We’re proud to have been the first professional services organisation to do this. We did it to challenge the perception that academic achievement alone is indicative of potential. Graduates with well-rounded employability skills and a passion for our business, client service and a willingness to learn new things are very important to us.

A challenge we have year on year is helping graduates understand that our graduate training programmes are available to students from any degree discipline. We want students who have studied arts and humanities subjects, as much as we do students with accounting and finance degrees. They’ll get all the support and training they need to be successful in our business regardless of the degree subject they studied. This approach helps us to be a diverse business and support our clients’ complex needs.

We are also working to challenge the view that all graduate opportunities are in London. Over half of our graduate vacancies are in our regional offices and all offer an excellent platform for students to progress and excel in their career. We have 30 offices around the UK.

Here are five top tips for students:

• Do your research: Employers have lots of information on their websites to help build your knowledge around what they do, how they do it and the sort of people they’re looking for.
• Go above and beyond: Visiting an organisation’s website is a good starting point. To really stand out attend employer events (either at university or attending an office-based open day event) and find out as much as you can and talk to their recruitment team and recent graduate joiners. When you meet people make sure you ask questions and speak to as many people as possible. A little bit of prior preparation can go a long way to helping you.
• Practise, practise, practise: Make sure you prepare for your interview, often the best way of doing this is by practising with a friend or family member or even filming yourself. We have some online e-learns to help you too (www.pwc.com/uk/employability).
• Demonstrate your employability skills: Customer service, networking, flexibility and team-working are all real aspects of business life that you might have experienced in your study, work or time out. Academic performance is important but it’s not the only thing we look for.
• Body language in an interview: A firm handshake, not forgetting to smile and eye contact are some examples of what you need to remember when being interviewed.

Sammie Stapleton, Head of UK Talent Channels, PwC

Being professional

Being professional is paramount whether students are undertaking an internship, work experience or placement. Students should refer to the company website and research the company values. These values will set the tone of the organisation, so ensure made sure its values are at the forefront of your mind while working there.

What to do and not do during an internship

• Respect your company’s values. More often than not, organisations will have tailored values that represent who they are as a company and how they want to operate. Abiding by these values is crucial as a company uses these when evaluating your behaviour in the office and reflecting on your work ethic.
• Don’t be late. Being late is not cool. Arriving 20 minutes after your start time will get you no brownie points with your new employer. Regardless of how long you have worked at an establishment, being late rarely becomes acceptable.
• Don’t sit on your phone. Keep that phone in your bag. Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram can wait until after work. Sitting on your phone shows a lack of commitment to the task at hand and has very negative associations.
• Don’t assume you know it all. It’s easy to get complacent when you become familiar with your day-to-day tasks and workload. There is always a way to improve, new skills to be learned and questions to be asked.

Don’t get paralytic at work socials. Socialising at work is definitely encouraged but remember to maintain boundaries when attending corporate events. Know your limits – work socials are for fun but take care and pace yourself. You are representing your company so composing yourself in a professional manner is vital. Associating your company with vomit and ambulances is not the way to get yourself a golden ticket to jobsville.

Amirah Hajat, Marketing Executive, RMP Enterprise

Have a back-up plan

Due to the increasingly competitive nature of the graduate market, it is important to have a back-up plan if you are unable to secure a position on a graduate scheme. There are many ways to navigate your career and today it is important to exhaust as many options as possible.

Use recruitment and career-specific websites to research opportunities. Your careers service may also be able to help you.

• Graduates with no work experience will struggle to secure a place on a graduate scheme.
• Of the top graduate employers, 63% offer some form of work experience.
• There are three main types of work experience: job shadowing, internships and placements.
• Companies are offering more opportunities to connect and engage through insight and open days and challenges.
• Small and medium-sized enterprises provide a range of opportunities for students to gain exposure to business processes, roles and responsibilities.
• Do not ignore the value of a temporary role as it can lead to a permanent position.
• Be focused in your search for a graduate position – target specific companies you want to work for.
• Companies are increasingly reviewing their recruitment practices to attract a wider pool of talent.
• Have a back-up plan if you are unable to secure a graduate role.
• Act professionally at all times.