Reflections on a year of placement.
Recently I finished my yearlong work placement at Alcentra. It has been a whirlwind 12 months and I have learned so much. As my time as both a placement student and a student blogger comes to an end, I’d like to offer some reflections on the year and advice I would give to anyone considering doing a placement.
Applications:
Before you even begin a placement year there is, of course, the job of securing a placement. This can seem quite daunting at first but there are some key things to remember if you are about to begin the application process.
First of all, it is quite a fine line when it comes to quantity of applications. As the saying goes: you must remember quality over quantity. You won’t get past the first stage of applications if your CV or Cover letter is not tailored to the position you are applying for or littered with typos. Simultaneously, however, you must also remember not to put all your eggs in one basket. Placement applications are very competitive – you will likely need to do a number of applications before you secure a placement.
To this point, time management is key – you will have a number of workflows going on at once, including multiple applications at different stages, whilst ensuring not to forget your degree. I kept a spreadsheet of all of my applications and the stage they were at, to ensure I maintained oversight on what I had applied for. It is worth noting that most placements will require an online test, assessment centre as well as multiple rounds of interviews.
My tip for this is that you should always make use of the resources available to you. In Bath we have a very good placements team who can help with any questions you have, as well as checking CVs and conducting mock interviews.
The placement itself:
Once you have secured your placement, you’ll get a contract and be given a start date. This can range from straight after second year exams finish in early June, through to mid-September and is company specific. At Alcentra, where I did my placement, our start date was late June. This worked well, as the summer months are relatively quiet in the City, which allowed us to have a better understanding of the knowledge and skills required for the job before the market really picked up again in September.
As I have said several times during my blog posts, the placement is a fantastic opportunity to learn directly from people on the job. It gives you a timeframe long enough to settle in a fully understand a business, and gives you contacts that you will hopefully make use of as you step into the working world. There is no secret to success on placement, but the two things I would advise are as follows.
Always be proactive, rather than reactive – it is easy to settle down and simply wait for instructions to be given to you – but those who succeed in anything in life are those who go the extra mile. Enthusiasm and a positive work ethic will always come out on top.
The other point that is always worth mentioning is the importance of asking questions. You will not be expected to know everything when you start the placement, in fact most placement require no prior knowledge of the specific industry, so it is up to you to ask as many questions as possible.
Post placement:
Something else worth noting is the end of placement. You’ll have a meeting with HR where you will discuss your performance over the year with feedback from your colleagues. This is also where any bonuses may be handed out, tough this is company specific and of course at the company’s discretion. I also think it’s important that when you finish placement to keep in touch with your colleagues. It is always useful to have a catch up at the end of the placement with the people you have worked closest with – to get their thoughts and advice about your next steps moving forward and hear their experiences of graduating from university and looking for a graduate role.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog this year and I would like to thank Alcentra for the opportunity to complete my placement with them.
Looking forward to what the future holds,
Chris
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