Gap Year Schemes (paid)
Why consider a paid gap year placement?
In today’s competitive environment, strong academic results are rarely sufficient. You are probably a high achieving student with a clutch of A*’s at GCSE and expecting A’s and A* at A ‘level. You think this is sufficient to gain you a place at a first class university. You may be right. But you need to think broader than this. Because this will not necessarily be enough when it comes to securing an internship or graduate position at a premier employer.
“There are thousands of students who will excel in their A-levels, attend top-notch universities and pursue an impressive string of extracurricular activities. Add to this those international students who also speak several languages fluently. Without something to differentiate yourself, you will look like one of many able students.”
Stand Out
You therefore need to pull ahead early. You need to stand out from the others. You need to differentiate yourself. The one thing that employers value is work experience. However this does not include bar work, working in a shop or in a ski resort. It means working in a responsible job in a corporate environment.
A 6-8 month work experience placement will make your CV or application form stand out from the crowd and differentiate you from others. Also the work experience and skills you will have gained will provide you with a head start at any interview, giving you lots of examples to draw from. It will basically put you ahead of the game. All initial interviews are competency based. This means they want you to provide real examples of when you showed initiative, when you worked under pressure, when you worked in a team, etc. Being able to draw from 6 months in a working environment will provide you with superior examples of theses skills and competencies allowing you to outshine other candidates.
Who offers PAID gap year placements?
Some examples...