On Tuesday 25th May we held our annual year in industry talk for Stage One Economics students run by Dr Penelope Pacheco Lopez, Director of Placements. This programme includes an opportunity to spend a year working in industry between Stages 2 and 3 which greatly enhances a CV and gives students the opportunity to apply academic skills in a practical context.
‘You’re fulfilling a proper role. They need you on the team -you’re not making the coffees. You have a very very defined role so its a very worthwhile placement to be in.’ Will Morgan currently on placement at GES in The Treasury.
‘Overall a good placement can put your future career on a completely different track,’ Penny encouraged everyone ‘and I can say that if I compare the grades and performance of students who who have taken the option of of going on a placement and those who didn’t, I can see a marked difference.’
We were fortunate to hear from some of our cohort of students, currently on their placement years, who discussed their experiences of applying for placements and what life on their year in industry has been like.
‘I wrote down every single interview question I ever got -they’re repeated so many times. I have a list of 30. By the end of the interview process I was so good because I planned these answers over and over.’ Kitty Culinan currently undertaking her placement at Mercedes.
So a huge thanks to Kitty Culinan (currently undertaking her placement at Mercedes AMG), Will Morgan (spending his year at The Treasury through the GES placement scheme) and Roshan Lakhman (placed at SMBC) who gave up their time sharing experiences and tips for applications, stand out CVs, smashing interviews, bombing in interviews, networking and generally making the most out of the experience.
‘You have to show them that you can work in a team -they want people who are open minded, who can share. Try and get this experience within University or volunteering. Its a major thing in interviews.’ Roshan Lakhman at SMBC.
A recording of the talk has also been made available to all first year students on Moodle.