Industrial placements

[BlueskyBluesea]

How are your DC getting on with arranging these? It seems like every placement is so competitive and really it is very lucky if a student is able to organise a placement that is relevant to their degree. Or do you have a son or daughter that found and completed a placement ....any advice gratefully appreciated ☺️

I would love to help ds find a SME's but where do we start?

My ds is still trying for a computer science placement. He is looking at gradcracker /rate my placement and I am looking at Indeed for him. Indeed do have a few SMEs but other than that not sure where to look.

@Ellerby83 Don't know if your ds will be interested but there's a Technology Ind. placement going with IKEA, sounds like a great opportunity and closes pretty soon so he needs to be quick.

DDs department had a contact list of all sizes of orgs for summer placements, from tiny SMEs to huge companies. The company she ended up working for is local to the uni and takes one student each summer. The big one she went to in her first year took quite a lot, from all over the country.
I wouldn't think many very small companies would have year long internships but some mediums might.

To find SMEs in your area I would search on technology park or hub or innovation centre and see what companies are there. Then check their websites. Also old fashioned but Chamber of Commerce usually has an online list of members. So I just checked the list for our nearest city and in the A's alone are five major employers eg ABP.

Thanks yes I did see that. Though he is applying to some in London ones and could commute in, this is in Wembley so it's that bit further away. To be honest he is getting a bit fed up of the whole thing. He has applied to about 20/25 I think large and small companies.

Where is looking exactly geographically? His job search sounds like it might be very restricted by location, the IKea salary sounds like it should be able to cover his commuting. He might need to rethink casting his net wider and consider if he can put up with it for just a year for the value & benefits it will add to him later on.

He has applied to ones in Reading Oxford Bracknell Basingstoke Woking and Newbury and a lot in central London. He isnt keen on renting a room for ones further afield. That might change as time goes by but we thought there would be more in the above areas thst he could commute to.

@ErrolTheDragon Thats probably true about very small companies but some do see offering an internship as a possible recruitment. Also companies that look small might be just one part of a larger organisation. It’s always worth looking at their web sites.

Why not apply anyway? (even if he's still deciding whether to rent out) at least he will have that option whatever he decides, like they say 'you have to be in it, to win it' or else he won't even have the Ikea option.

Yes I will send the Ikea one to him he can decide. I have encouraged him to apply further afield but I cant make him do it. I did send him a list of ones a bit further away where he would have to live locally but it's his decision.

Often mocked on MN, but the WIWIKAU website (not FB group) has a Jobs section, which has an Internships sub section.

DS found it had a lot of small, regional accounting firms posting placements on it that weren't listed on the bigger sites (Bright Network, Rate My Placement etc)

@Shimy I think actual job adverts give a clue. Most firms advertise via recruitment sites eg glassdoor tells anyone searching the name of the firm and they are not all large. A quick google search might throw some up too. How would anyone get a job? It’s a similar process.

Of course actual job adverts will give a clue but the point is students looking for Industrial placements are looking at platforms where those types of opportunities are centralised and they're not having to hunt for individual companies (if they've heard of them in the first place) to discover whether or not they offer placement opportunities.. The ones that can afford to use the well known platforms are also more organised or rather are more experienced with putting together a well structured Placement plan for the student that sometimes smaller companies don't.
Glassdoor is more focused on company reviews and general job seekers, amongst the maze of it I'm sure there will be internships/placements but you can see why most undergrads head for the dedicated platforms which is partly the answer to your question why SMEs are being overlooked.

Aside from that, I get the feeling from my DC who've both done IPs that most of their friends wanted to do their IP in companies that hired more than just one or two students. Safety in numbers? i don't know. But there's a feeling of security that the company knows what they are doing and they won't get lost among the normal staff.

Opportunity to be offered a job upon graduating is another one, a smaller company is more likely to pull out of an offer. Of course all of this is just pure speculation but it's what students are thinking and could be argued there's some truth in it. Personally, I believe an SME would offer more experience and a chance for the student to get their hands dirty.

@Shimy Glassdoor gives you the name of the companies. I was asked how you discover companies you don’t know. Yes, it takes some effort! Like getting a job. However it’s a similar process and not everyone will get to a household name. Dc might also not get the most streamlined experience with a hoard of others. However, for example, engineering consultants who have engineers training to be chartered engineers are used to young people being trained! If dc just want the best, they might be disappointed but there might well be opportunities by looking at local companies and trade journals etc. Many grads do have to do research and should be prepared to look more widely for roles.

I think it was @foghead & @Ellerby83 who were asking but you tagged me instead by mistake, I completely agree that graduates have to be ready to do the groundwork and not just limit themselves to a few job portals. How time has flown by, in my time the 'Guardian' newspaper, (Thursdays) was the place to go for graduate jobs, but there were usually some gems in the 'evening standard' and for local companies, the Gazette! Sometimes I'd forget to get a copy on Thursday and then scour the train for a discarded paper on the way back from my crappy job and the delight! If the discarded paper still had the job section in it. It was like finding gold.

The Glassdoor UI is an awful User Experience (UX) - their website and app really need upgrading to modern standards.

However, one thing that is worth DC persevering with it is the Interviews section - DS has had 2 companies he got assessment centres for, where applicants from previous years (graduate and placement years) had given examples of questions they were asked.

Some were standard HR questions but some were more unusual, so he prepped for those too - at both ACs he was asked some of these, so the research paid off.

@cyclingmum67 It’s advice to look at Glassdoor to see what companies there are besides the big ones. Looking for SMEs. Not saying apply via them. If you are not aware of companies, than it’s a resource to look for a wider selection.

Sorry if anyone tagged incorrectly.

@TizerorFizz not sure why you're getting your knickers in a twist - I wasn't contesting/criticising your earlier comment.

I was simply giving some advice to other mums, whose DC may be going through IP applications, on a feature of Glassdoor that my DS had found helpful

Ok @cyclingmum67 but my knickers are perfectly fitted thank you.

You need to know the companies in the first place to then find their websites. Unless you’re already in the industry you simply don’t know who they are. SMEs just don’t seem to advertise ‘year in industry placements’ on Indeed etc. DD has applied to 35 large companies (with only about 5 I’ve actually ever heard of). I don’t think you appreciate how exhausting the whole process is. If companies aren’t advertising how do they expect to have any candidates? She’s completed the final stage of a few but they’re slow at confirming anything as yet. She’s also becoming a little bit disheartened by the whole process but remains hopeful.

@NotDonna I think you are missing the point. You can google the area of work you want and see what comes up locally. You will find SMEs on these sites. Then you can approach the firms or look at their web sites and see if they offer a year. Yes, it’s hard work applying for 30 or so and I think I said earlier, I’m not convinced it’s 100% necessary as it adds a year to the degree which could be more productively spent, eg MEng not BEng.

Also professional organisations have lists of approved employers for membership purposes. They will all have web sites. Filter ones in your area and see if they offer placements. These employers are not all the big ones.

I know op’s DC is looking for engineering but many on this thread aren’t and a year in industry is very helpful for those. Where I do agree with you is that they are miss sold by the universities. Obtaining one speculatively as your suggesting is highly unlikely as they need to be approved by the university - visited etc. Only to then find out the company isn’t that keen after all. It’s a right old faff trust me! You also wouldn’t believe the number of companies that just don’t bother replying to speculative emails. Sticking to the main platforms such as Indeed may be a lot more competitive but the programs on there have already been approved, the companies are interested in recruiting and aren’t a total waste of time and effort.

I do realise that you’re trying to help btw! DD is studying BSc Business & management so in many ways she should have a wide field of options. She’s not wanting wholly marketing or wholly finance, but operational and ideally encompassing the many aspects of business/management. Locally, any advertised interns (other than Enterprise or EA) are admin, so answering calls, filing etc. and more aimed at kids with a couple of GCSE’s. To be fair she has got to the final stage for 3 large companies but not heard yet if successful in those or not. I’m not sure what she’ll do if they reply negatively.

@NotDonna I do still think it’s a massive faff and slog! I do hope all the DCs get one.

However I do wonder if it’s worth it when you detail what’s involved. Aldo we know MN sc are high achievers so I’d love to know what the stats really look like for placements.

There are things you can do with a year after a degree and it’s not necessarily the best experience to work during it. What use is basic admin if that’s offered? I do take issue that SMEs are not capable of sustaining a good internship but I can see why many employers can’t be bothered for some areas of work. There’s plenty of grads around for business jobs. They are not shortage areas so employers don’t have recruitment difficulties. Engineering is a shortage area so employers should be more engaged. Their confidence about employing people might cause them to pause as well at the moment.