Can we have a thread for placement years please?

[kittykittykitty5]

Are they all organised yet for those starting a placement in September?

Thought we could all share tips, insights and experiences.

xxxx

Yes please! DS is applying for loads, but no joy yet.

agreed. DS not applied for any yet. And a lot of them seem to have closed. Me fears this is going to be one of his last minute things that causes me loads of stress. I keep reminding myself he is a grown up now

Well, as yet we have heard nothing.

I am worrying because if the placement is in an area other than current uni town or not within easy commute by rail it means having to rent a studio flat.

We are also finding that a lot of placements do not fit the criteria for a placement year which then means SF funding, this applies to overseas placements.

It all seems, well, so late in the day. I was expecting to be able to book flights well in advance to get the cheap deals.

xx

My dd who is doing Human Resources has been applying since before Christmas (she's applied for about 15)and has had several online assessments/ Skype interviews so far. She's had an all day assessment last week for a software company and one in 10 days for a large multinational sports clothing company and an interview next week for a food company.Still waiting to hear from about 4....they're paying anything between £15-£25K for the years placement!
The placements are all at least 2-4 hrs away from her uni( M25 area), so she'll be looking for somewhere to rent if successful , which means when she returns for final year she'll have to look for new flat mates again
Some have graduate schemes following on after finals, so fingers crossed she hears soon!.... it's a bit of a lottery but she's pretty focused and has had a part time job in retail for the past 4 yrs...not bad for a dyslexic student who really struggled with GCSE maths!

Well done to your DD StopyourHavering. Hope she gets a placement soon. Does the university not help with placements?

Sundays...... they only give them websites which offer placements, the student has to do all the legwork i.e. Writing covering letters/CV
Not everyone on her course is doing a placement year, which I think puts them at a great disadvantage when it comes to looking for graduate jobs
She's actually quite enjoying the process so far as it's given her an idea of what's on offer in the wide world once she graduates!

That all sounds excellent. Certainly will give her a had start. Does it have to be paid? Just wondering if they can afford to do like a free internship, that might open more doors or will the university not view it as a proper placement?

I don't know if it needs to be paid, but if she's getting£15K/ yr it certainly beats working for nothing! ...she won't get any living expenses otherwise from student finance for placement year and we couldn't afford to support her living expenses as well as paying for accommodation as have a ds due to start uni in September as well

What sort of help do the unis provide to your DC? My DD will possibly be applying in a year's time, so interested to see what sort of guidance others get.

What happens if the student doesn't actually find anywhere, if they are on a 4 year sandwich type degree?

If they don't get a placement then they go into 3rd/final year...my dd s uni cant guarantee that everyone will get a placement ( which is fairly normal as far as I can make out from others who's dcs have done similar sandwich courses)

Ok. I did wonder if that happened.