Industrial placement Year

[quintessentially166]

When DS applied to Uni the idea of a placement year sounded a good option, however, naively I thought the Uni had a list of placements and you picked an option, have a basic interview to check you were right fit…but no, it is literally like applying for a full time job, having to source the placement yourself and with up to 4 rounds of interviews and that is only if you get passed just submitting your CV.

What is your DS/DD experiences of trying to get a placement like? Did they manage to find something or did they just have to go on and complete their final year without a placement year?

Does the uni not advertise any placements at all? That can be a starter for them. But yes, most will require you to put the leg work in and apply like a usual job. Its all part of the experience. Do they have placement staff to help with CV and application writing?

My eldest applied for loads all over the country and didn’t get offered one until about April time - a lot of the big companies start recruiting very early and applications close in December which she wasn’t aware of (had virtually no support from the uni) so she missed a couple. Naively she was just getting on with settling into second year and thought someone at uni would say “hey everyone, it’s time to start looking for placements!” It was only when I badgered her that she started getting proactive.

With the youngest we learnt from that so he started looking in September. He’s a top student with stellar grades and had two years part time work experience under his belt, yet he still had to apply to about 25 places before getting an offer, loads didn’t even reply. It was an excellent placement but he had to move to the other end of the country for it.

What I will say is - it’s definitely a numbers game. They need to start looking/set up alerts from September, have Cv up to date and be prepared to really put some work in. It’s really important to think outside the box too, don’t just apply to all the obvious ones. Smaller local companies are worth a try too - even email companies who aren’t advertising for a placement student, they might just have a suitable opening.

What is your YP studying?

DS2 is looking for a placement for his forth year. The uni helps to a certain extent but competition is fierce. Those that are unsuccessful stay at uni to do a research project.
He failed to get a summer internship. Had one interview for which there were 750 applicants, 25 interviewed for two places. So so tough.

I think Bath helps the most - but yes, it is hard

DD2 was at Bath. The placements were advertised and she had help with drafting her applications and a mock interview. She only applied for one placement and got that but some of her friends did apply for lots before being successful.

DD2 has just gone into her final year after a placement year. She started applying in September/October of Y2 and the process was hard and extensive. She looked on sites such as Gradcracker. She secured a placement in February.

Most courses are clear that it’s on the student to source the placement themselves. Bath sounds to be an exception but every open day we’ve been to this year for cs has said vague things about connections with industry but that it’s not the uni that sorts any of it out. Which makes sense when there’s 100s of students involved. It always seems a bit dodgy to me, bigging up that they have this year in industry option when it’s just a year out from uni with nothing for them to do except look good if the student manages to swing a good placement off their own dedication. And I know people talk about how valuable it is to have that connection/experience when leaving uni, but I don’t really see why it matters whether that year is in the middle of a degree versus at the end when you have to apply for stuff anyway. But that’s going beyond your point. In short, my overall impression is that unis are straight about the set up so it’s more likely a wrong assumption you made than them being misleading, but it can feel a bit of a swizz anyway and is a risk for the student given the competition for places and how unappealing it can be for companies to take someone on in those circumstances.

Does anybody know what UWE Bristol is like for placement years?

Hi OP,
Don’t know if this is useful for your DS - I found a placement many decades ago with the Year in Industry scheme. It was primarily aimed at those doing a year between A levels and university, but I just checked the website and it also mentions undergrads and graduates. 2026/7 placements are being advertised soon, you can register your interest here.

https://www.etrust.org.uk/placements

I’m an academic. Students get lots of support with preparing CVs, interviews, mentors etc but yes it is just like a job interview because it is a job interview. Employers want to choose. From experience pretty much everyone who wants a placement gets one. Good luck.

We run a placement student programme at my work and advertise directly to some unis as well as on LinkedIn/Indeed etc.

The unis we work directly with all have some sort of placement coordinator who supports students with finding suitable placements to apply for and prepping for interviews.

We do treat recruitment the same way as we would if we were hiring a permanent employee in terms of CV evaluation and interview structure. It's worth students opting for courses with a year in industry being aware of how competitive some placements are, and starting to prepare early so they stand out.

My youngest did a placement year in 2023-24. Her uni career service (Edinburgh) were useful with lists of employers and advice on initial assessment tests and interviews but it was really up to you to secure yourself. There wasn't a lot on offer for DDs degree (social science) so she applied for summer internships too. Many withdrew jobs or ghosted her (even after rounds which required an essay/videos not just online tests). Luckily got one. She'd hoped to get a job offer at the end but didn't (few did). However she thinks the whole process was useful for her final year (she was much more successful).

My Dc did a year in industry as part of a 4 year MSci. Graduated last year.

It was the same shock / surprise you are having, but the Uni did have a list of opportunities and alerts for placements that kept updating, and they had to apply.

It was very competitive.

They got a couple of sessions on Cv prep and interview practice.

In end Dc got a really good research placement. It paid more than the first job after graduation, the experience was a huge factor in getting his first job which was right in the centre of their interest and expertise.

The ‘year out’ brings other complications. Finding accommodation for the year. Dc’s placement was for 13 or 14 months so they were working for a lot of the summer break either side.

It was tricky finding a flat for the following year back at Uni, luckily they had trusted friends to share who found somewhere, but they ended up paying rent for 2 properties during the July at the end of the placement year. (They went into independent student halls in the placement town)

But it was a great experience.

And everyone who was approved for the 4 year course did find something suitable in the end. (They applied for the 4 year course initially but they had to pass the 1st year exams at a certain level to stay in that course, or revert to the 3 year BSc)

Good point about the return to uni. Placements not common so DD hardly knew anyone on her course on her return. Ended up sharing with someone else who did a placement (taking over lease of friends who were graduating). Actually worked out fine as she had less distractions in her final year when busy with diss and job hunting.

Thanks for all your comments and advice, his uni is helping and I know he has got to do a lot of the ground work himself, just feel the placement year should be explained a bit more clearly, or at least by his uni.

As you say it is good experience

@quintessentially166I think universities should be required to say the % who do secure placements on the courses . No uni ever says how many placements are advertised vs number of students wanting them. Probably not good reading so they fudge the info.

Mn students are often the high achievers. What about everyone else? It’s unlikely anywhere is 100%. Plus for some careers it’s not really worth it if it compromises MEng (for example) because the student only gets a BEng after 4 years with a year out. MEng for 4 years is better for career progression.

it is literally like applying for a full time job, having to source the placement yourself and with up to 4 rounds of interviews and that is only if you get passed just submitting your CV.

This is all part of the learning, and at a good university, is supported by a knowledgeable Careers Service (which is run by the university and funded by tuition fees).

I think universities should be required to say the % who do secure placements on the courses . No uni ever says how many placements are advertised vs number of students wanting them. Probably not good reading so they fudge the info.

Universities have no control over
a) employers employing students
b) the efficacy of students' applications

@ParmaVioletTea Universities offer these courses! They have a unique UCAS code and then they have no responsibility whatsoever? Most reasonable people would think the stats are the least they could do. It’s bordering on dishonest to wash their hands by saying it’s all down to employers and students when it’s the uni that’s recruited to that course!

I think the help from unis for both placement and careers after graduating varies a lot by university. One of my DS really struggled, little feedback on CV (I found it hard to help him as I'm in a completely different field), lack of help on who to apply to or how. It was very frustrating. I paid for a coach to help him in the end. Clearly it can be done because in 3 sessions he was much happier, had a CV, had letters according to the situation and a lit of target companies to write to, or search websites.

I do think universities should publish their data around this, they can influence the outcomes to some extent and the success of their students should be measured and published.

In my old department someone was employed to build relationships with placement employers and to help students prepare for applications. The Careers service was also very proactive in offering help. What you can’t do is place students in a company - you can’t expect them to employ someone they haven’t selected for the year. We had a range of companies that arranged their interview through us, we gathered applications but quickly discovered that we couldn’t filter or shortlist students because our idea of what made a student stand out wasn’t necessarily the same as a company’s. Often academically weak students fitted right in and thrived, equally often exceptionally academically able students were unhappy and unproductive on placement. Students found great placements for themselves and often that led to more students following them in later years. I loved running our placements. Up to 90% of our students went on placement, the rest did a project on campus, usually by choice. I think it’s been a bit less since Covid disrupted them.

I did an industrial placement back in prehistory and it was more or less how you thought it was today:

DC2 has an optional placement and got so fed up of applying and getting rejected that they gave up and applied to do a student exchange at a university abroad. That was successful!

Mine changed from 4 yr with placement year back to 3 yr course and instead works 2 days per week whilst at uni in industry field. Made more financial sense for them and equalled to same amount of experience.

Universities do support these courses, to a greater or lesser degree.

The careers services offer (or should offer) a bespoke service to students doing a year in industry.

At my place, Careers staff offer workshops, CV advice, come and talk to departments, and act as a clearing house, or meeting place, for students and prospective employers. There is a regular email to students and a website stuffed full of resources. This is all paid for from tuition fees.

As a department, we run fortnightly employability events at a time in the week when there are no timetabled classes. Sadly, and embarrassingly, at those sessions, we sometimes have not one single student turning up to talk to potential employers ….

So we can’t always predict or control success rates. But there is significant resource freely available for students from Day 1 of their studies, and continuing for at least a year after graduation, should they wish to access it.

And everything @Chemenger says.

i used to work in a department which negotiated a summer placement with a major national public service broadcaster. It was extremely tricky as their remit meant that they couldn’t favour one university over another. We negotiated a special deal, but the students still had to go through an intensely competitive application process. We brought in Careers colleagues to train and support them in this, but in the end, there were two positions and 20 students, with more or less effective applications. We couldn’t dictate to the employer who would be appointed.