Keele Management School News 02
Thinking about a placement year ?
All KMS undergraduate programmes can now be studied with a placement year between the second and third years of study . There is a lot of information and support available at Keele to help you to decide if a placement is right for you and to help you to prepare for the experience . What are the pros and cons of opting for a placement year ?
A placement year :
You must be prepared to devote plenty of time to researching placement opportunities and working on your applications . Applying for jobs can be a full time job in itself requiring practice to get it right . However , with the help and support of your KMS placement officer and the Keele Careers and Employability team , this will be an opportunity for you to fine tune your job applications in a ‘ safe environment ’, helping you to become confident and adept at applying for jobs when you ’ re looking for permanent employment . You will also hopefully have the chance to attend interviews and experience psychometric tests and assessment centres so that they are less intimidating in the future . This will help you to understand what skills and qualities employers are looking for .
Your CV and application letter is your first chance to convince an employer to invite you to interview . If you can get this right now and secure an interview or interviews for a placement year , you will be well on your way to having the right CV and application letter to secure a permanent job when you graduate .
The next step will be your interview when you can be faced with anything from a thirty minute face-to-face meeting to a two-day assessment centre . There is plenty of help , support and advice on hand at Keele to help you to be as positive , confident and well-prepared as you can be . Success at this stage will boost your confidence ; you ’ ll know you can do it when you get your next interview opportunity .
Having secured your placement , what are the advantages of working ?
From a practical point of view , you ’ ll be earning money for a while and you might be lucky enough to be able to save some of it to help cover expenses in your final year .
It ’ s a great way to ‘ try out ’ a job to see if it ’ s right for you and it ’ s an opportunity to put your learning into practice . This was put into words by one of our students who took part in the applied company research project working for a manufacturing company “ This is when you discover the ‘ I never knew that this really works , this doesn ’ t work well and it ’ s more complicated than that ’. It is what employers are looking for in graduates , someone who not only has the knowledge but also the practical know how of why something works in a real environment and can apply academic knowledge to the organisation .”
In some very lucky cases it can even lead to the offer of a permanent job after graduation , but at the very least it will be your opportunity to build a network of contacts in an area you would like to work . It will enhance your CV and hopefully you will be more confident and positive for your job interviews in the future .
A placement year :
It ’ s much more challenging to come up with a list of ‘ cons ’ for a placement year , but it will be time-consuming and hard work . You will need to be resilient ; applying for placements is a competitive process and there may be set-backs along the way . You may even have to accept that you cannot secure a suitable placement . There are no guarantees .
Preparing applications and attending interviews will be time-consuming and could involve some expense , for example travelling to and from interviews and buying the right clothes to wear . If you are successful the world of work will be challenging . You will have to work hard , adjust to your new working environment and to your work colleagues . It may be a new experience for you to be working regular office hours , 9am to 5pm five days a week and this could take some adjusting to .
When you return to study , many of your friends who opted not to do a placement will have already graduated and you could possibly find yourself studying and living with a new set of friends . You will have to revert back from work mode to study mode and adjust to life without a monthly salary . The choice is yours !
Dr Teresa Oultram
“ I ’ m really excited that Keele Management School is now able to offer work placement opportunities to its students . Keele already has an excellent track record for graduate employability but I am confident that the introduction of placements can only enhance that .
Many years ago , when I did my undergraduate degree , I was able to take a work placement . The benefits from the experience led to me having a successful career in industry prior to becoming an academic . During my placement , my confidence grew as I worked on challenging and meaningful projects which were implemented and led to improved efficiency for the organisation .
A work placement is an opportunity to develop many different skills such as communication , negotiation , producing reports , data analysis , team working , working with different people , plus many more skills depending on the role you take . You will also get the chance to see how what you have learnt at Keele translates to the workplace and in your final year , you will have practical experiences to relate to in your studies .
In today ’ s competitive graduate market , being able to demonstrate employability skills when applying for jobs has become almost a requirement – work placement , along with many other opportunities at Keele will help you to gain those skills .”