What are they and why should I get one?
Securing a student work placement or work experience job is a great way to gain relevant work experience and skills to boost your personal development and CV. It will help you to make valuable industry contacts and ultimately to find out if that type of job is right for you in the longer term. It will also give you a head start over less experienced applicants when applying for full time graduate jobs and given the stiff competition out there now that can be a significant advantage.

Many of these schemes are targeted at first or second years and so you need to start searching and applying for the roles early. You should also bear in mind that there are relatively few vacancies for the number of graduates out there so the competition is tough – the earlier you start to think about them the better.

It’s all in the name
Student work placements are also marketed under many different guises, some of which we have included below with a brief explanation. Essentially they vary only slightly but you should read each job description carefully before applying to make sure you are clear about what it entails:

• Student work experience - this is the catch-all title and covers every different type of role. Each employer uses this in a slightly different way so becareful to always read the job description carefully
• Sandwich placements - assessed paid work which is part of your course. It is often of one year's duration.
• Work-based project - A specific piece of assessed work for a course, undertaken at an employer's premises.
• Student work placement - A period of work experience, which can be paid or unpaid, and is part of a course of study. This can be arranged through your university with an employer or by yourself and is for an agreed period of time.
• Work Shadowing - Where a student observes a member of staff working in an organisation, and so gains an understanding of what a particular job entails.
• Internships - A phrase that is increasingly used by large companies and refers to a placement within their organisation. It is the same thing as a placement or the more generic term work experience.

So to get your head start visit our student work placement page to search for current work placement opportunities.

Visit our Booklet page for more information.