Ideas on where to find Year Industry placements for STEM?

[GlitterBiscuits]

DC has told me how competitive it is to find placement places for their year in industry.

Things like materials science, materials engineering, metallurgy, steel, nuclear science, nuclear materials, automotive/aerospace engineering

I'm hoping that MN can help out with some ideas please.

I'm a bit baffled that they have to sort things out for themselves.
And as bonus can anyone tell me how all this is funded, do loans still apply etc?

Is this a compulsory part of the degree?

I work for a uni department that offers a year in industry (computer science). We have a dedicated team that works with students to up their CV writing and interview skills and connects them with potential recruiters. Does your DC's Department offer anything similar? I'd be surprised if they were entirely on their own here.

Regarding funding, in our uni year in industry students only have to pay 20% of the tuition fees for the placement year, and they can get student loans for that year too. They're paid placements so a pretty good deal really.

First stop: Check with the Department, and there might be a central team which supports placement students too.

DS got offers for his through a combination of established contacts/intern jobs maintained by his uni and also searching himself.
In the end the internship he found was with a better-known company so he went with that.

Searched all the student jobsites for "[insert field] placement/ internship"
Places like gradcracker, indeed, LinkedIn jobs etc

As @SallyOMalley the students pay 20% fees for their year out. Seemed like a bit of con to be honest as DS had no input/ communication from his uni during the year!

There should be a placement team who support students with this.

Because of Covid they had only 3 things in person.
Came home at Christmas and never went back.
So everything went on line and no chance to build up any relationships or contacts.
The whole thing has been awful. No chance to make decent friends or Freshers week etc.
I think it has put them off so I'm trying to help and support as best I can without being overbearing.
It's a tightrope!

But the placement team will still exist and will be offering support. However, this might be something he has to ask for rather than expect to just happen.

@SkinnyMirror

But the placement team will still exist and will be offering support. However, this might be something he has to ask for rather than expect to just happen.

I agree with this. In our gaff, the placement team is still there offering support, it's just been via zoom rather than in person. Hopefully back face to face in September.

Usually, staff would visit placement students at least once during their placement but recently this too has been conducted via zoom. On top of this, the 'on course' support team has held 'keeping in touch' meetings for all students at least once a term. Students shouldn't ever feel abandoned - it's so tough at the moment for them.

Have been thinking a bit more about this ...

Other places to look for advertised roles: Prospects, Rate my Placement, TARGETjobs, Gradcracker (mentioned by a pp), Student Ladder and Indeed.

Whether the Year in Industry is overseen by a department team or a 'central' university team, there will be support out there - your DC only has to ask. Students won't simply be abandoned to find their own way. Yes, it is a competitive process but, in my experience, students that engage in the process with an open mind regarding job and location tend to be successful.

@GlitterBiscuits - I presume we are talking about a year in industry starting next Summer/Autumn and not next month?! (If the latter, I'm afraid he has probably missed the boat!)

DS started applying in Autumn term for the following Sept start, had interviews Oct/ Nov and was offered placements in Dec/Jan for the following Sept.

Another trick he used was to check out the Year in Industry websites of other universities as some provided useful links to companies that provided placements, and they are rarely just wedded to one university.

With the benefit of two university age DCs myself could I venture to suggest that "it's really competitive to find a placement" may also mean "oh sh*t I haven't done anything about this yet and don't know where to start!"

www.gradcracker.com/search/mechanical-manufacturing/materials-science-work-placements-internships

There are many job boards where employers post their paid placement year positions. Google "placement year jobs", write a cv, and apply.

The big recruiters will usually be going live this months for entry next summer.

Try also EDT ‘year in industry scheme’ that posts vacancies. There are other websites that provide lists of companies offering placements. I don’t remember them all but google will find them. Agree too that in our experience the University depts and central careers service will provide advice and support but the DC have to be proactive and go find it, it won’t necessarily come to them

You may be surprised that they have to find their own placement but that is actually a large part of the benefit - learn the ropes snd try it out before they need to apply for graduate jobs

How beneficial is it to do a year in industry. My ds is planning to apply for computer science degrees and we have seen that a lot of them have a sandwich year. Is it a big advantage when they are looking for graduate jobs?

@Barwell76 - I work in a Computer Science dept (admissions) and I work closely with our Year in Industry team.

A placement year gives students a fab opportunity to put into practice what they learn in the classroom. But, more than that, they learn the soft skills: team work, taking taking initiative, motivation etc.

Students tend to come back into their final year with a renewed enthusiasm and often perform better than those who haven't taken a placement. In addition, many students are offered a job on graduation in their placement firm.

Bearing in mind all this, and that placements are often paid, students pay reduced fees while they're out, and they can still claim a student loan, I really do think its 'win win'.

Applicants don't always have to commit when they apply through ucas. We have a separate ucas code for courses with a placement, but students can choose to take up / drop a placement at any point up to the end of the 1st year. CV and interview skills training starts at the beginning of year 2, interviews in the spring, and placements start in July/August.

I know Boeing offer these opportunities,not sure how they are advertised/accessed though

Thanks for the replies.
I think the lack of support in first year has been a bit off putting and they weren't expecting much help going forward.

The financial information helped too as they're were thinking about not applying for the mainstream loan next year. I think they should.

As mentioned above, these open up Sept/October. A quick google search for 3 companies I know shows the following:

Jaguar - mechanical
www.jaguarlandrovercareers.com/go/Engineering-Programme-Undergraduates/4027201/

MBDA - aerospace
www.mbdacareers.co.uk/early-careers/undergraduates

Boeing UK
www.boeing.co.uk/working-at-boeing/graduates-apprentices-interns.page