How to Secure a Work Placement Year at University

Don’t rule out smaller, less well-known firms. Experience is experience, and smaller firms may be able to give you much more responsibility in projects. 

Your work is also more likely to make a larger difference in a smaller firm than in a large one, due to a smaller number of staff members. 

Unless you’ve applied for a part time job, chances are you haven’t really needed to use your resume very often. You might not even have one.

Whether you have a resume or not, it’s best to start from scratch when applying for your work placement year. A quick Google will provide you with numerous resume templates and most word documents will also have templates for you to use.

If you need help starting your resume, here’s how to write a resume with no work experience and further tips on writing a CV that’ll get you interviews. 

Once you’ve written a draft resume, book a session with your university careers center. They will tell you how to improve your resume and how to match it to the jobs you’re applying to.

Research companies before applying for placements. This will help you gauge what you’ll be doing in the role, what the company’s looking for from applicants and whether the role is right for you.

Aligning your interests, ethics and career aspirations with the role is essential. Understanding the company’s values and taking notes will also help you out at the interview stage, as you will have done most of your preparation in advance.

Placement year applications can be incredibly competitive, so you’ll need to ensure that your application is tailored to the individual role and company that you’re applying to.

Also, don’t miss the application deadline. That’s a surefire way to not get the job.

Find out what the application involves before applying. This may differ from firm to firm, but companies usually outline the application steps on their website.

For large corporate firms the recruitment process usually involves several steps:

Step 1: An initial application

You will be asked to submit your CV to and answer a few questions about why you want the job and what you can bring to the role.

Step 2: Online assessment

You’ll then be told to complete several online assessments. These will most likely be psychometric tests, testing your aptitude, personality and skills. 

They may include numerical, verbal and logical tests or might test how you’d respond to situations that may arise in the job.

There are many practice psychometric tests online so make sure you prepare for these in advance.

Step 3: Telephone interview

This will usually be quite a brief interview and you’ll be asked about your motivations for wanting the role and about your work experience. You may be asked a couple of competency-based questions. You can often prepare for these in advance.

Step 4: Video interview

The next step is usually a video interview. Here, you will record yourself answering several competency-based questions in a certain time limit. It’s worth practicing these before the interview, as video interviews can be quite daunting if you haven’t done them before. 

Step 5: The assessment center and final interview

You will then be invited to the office for an assessment center day. This is a day where you will complete a series of activities with the other finalists and the company will mark you based on how well you work with others.

On this day you will usually complete several interviews. These interviews will be more detailed than the other interviews, asking technical questions about the role as well as personal questions about you and your suitability for the role.

Here’s how to stand out to employers in the recruitment process. 

The most important thing to do to secure a work placement is to persevere. No-one has ever said finding a work placement is easy, so just keep going and you’ll get there eventually.