The practical experience of a professional placement in addition to strong academic achievement, gives students a distinctive edge in the job market when they graduate. A professional placement is usually a fixed term salaried contract of around 12 months, although some might be shorter. They are paid, however, do check with everyone what the salary will be.
Placements provide a great insight into the different aspects of organsiations, particularly large organsiations and sectors like business, finance, law, marketing and several FTSE 100 employers offer students the opportunity to undertake a placement including Barclays, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, GSK and IBM among others.
Not only do placements provide students will valuable skills and experiences in their field, but also contacts- they are a great opportunity to build a professional network. Some students who perform well on their placement are even asked back by their placement employers once they have graduated.
There is also a lot of support for students throughout the placement process. Students can seek support from university careers or placement team who offer 1-2-1 advice on writing CV’s and cover letters when applying for placements, as well as preparing applications and for interviews. They also support students while they on placement, offering advice, guidance and monitoring the student’s progress.
You can find out more about placements at City, University of London including our micro-placement programme on our website.