It is all about getting experience
"Experience, experience, experience". That's the theme of advice coming from employers to students nearing the end of their three years of study at universities across the country.
The Confederation of Business Industry (CBI) director general Richard Lambert believes work experience is an essential component to the CVs of graduates looking for work in all sectors.
He said: "It's no good graduates regretting not taking up opportunities once they leave university - many universities are keen to help them gain work experience during their degree."
CBI's Future Fit survey into Higher Education in showed that 74% of companies have links with universities to help provide work placements for students who wish to take advantage of the partnership.
One of the options on offer is a sandwich course, which allows students to undergo some form of paid work experience during their degree courses at university, normally for one year. The best bit for students is that they receive a salary for their efforts during their work placement.
Giving students a helping hand to find that placement are four ambitious people, ex-students and recipients of a 12-month work placement themselves.
Ali Lindsay, Oliver Sidwell, Chris Wickson and Ben Smith, all aged 24, met at a Freshers Week in 2003.
After graduating in 2007, they set up RateMyPlacement.co.uk, to help students on sandwich courses, to find a one year work placement.
Oliver said: "The three of us had mixed experiences and we felt that it was more luck than judgement that you found a decent company and a decent role. We felt an unbiased student opinion would be really beneficial, and that's essentially where we grew RateMyPlacement from."
Robert Bosch Ltd, an innovative technology company, recruited Oliver for a year where he worked as a Channel Marketing Assistant.
Offering his backing for the placement scheme, Oliver said: "Researching theories is wonderful, but often university work doesn't allow you to test those theories in the workplace. Applying theories to real life situations is what placements and internships are all about, this then enhances your experience and skill base to ultimately make you more employable upon graduation.
Matthew Edmonds, 24, from Essex, did a one year work placement at 3M Electro & Communications Business. He now works at Gillisia Ltd, an online marketing agency.
He said: "I was excited about dipping my toes into the real world whilst having the comforting knowledge that it was only temporary and it may help me shape the way I approach my final year and continuing career.
"Therefore I would lead several meetings each week through both face to face and video conferencing which developed key communication skills. Managing multiple projects with varying deadlines helped with my time management and leadership competencies. An overall commercial awareness & understanding was the key takeaway that without having a placement would have been difficult to experience."
Describing it as a "shock to the system", Matthew said the working life as a professional instilled him with self discipline.
He talked about "entering negotiations from 9am as opposed to surfacing at 10.30am to catch the end of Homes Under The Hammer."
Working in the professional world involves being on time at 9am and ready to begin a day full of skilled assignments. Compare that to being a university student and enduring early morning lectures, as tutors get their points across and the pupils try to recover from a wild, partying adventure of the night before.
Ray McLaughlin, a placement leader of the Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and Sciences (ACES) at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), said: "There are a small number who cannot make the change from being a happy go lucky student to a young professional. If the problem is identified to us, we will encourage the student to change their behaviour. We can help and encourage them to do it, in the end, it's up to the person to decide."
Figures from SHU's ACES Faculty show that for the 2009/10 year, 59% of students out of 806 pupils were successful in getting a one year placement.
Future opportunities could just be beginning for students who've completed their one year work placements.
Annette Baxter, a Careers Advisor at Sheffield Hallam University, says: "If a company's spotted a really good placement student, and they've had them on probation for a year, they might not need to advertise for graduate opportunities if they've already got a really talented student that they've had with their organisation for a year who already knows your company."
The Student Zone is written for Sheffield students by Sheffield students. We welcome contributions on all suitable topics. Email your articles to staronline@sheffieldnewspapers.co.uk and mark the subject field 'students' or call digital community editor Nancy Fielder on 0114 2767676 ext 3524 for more information.
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Thursday 23 February 2012
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