Placement

18/10/2016 - Lecture

The first part of the seminar was about placement. Linda Whiteley came in to do a talk and to give us some key information about placement.

It started off with some basic information that we have to know about placement. It's 48 weeks and I can start from June 2017 to September 2018 which would give me 16 months to complete the placement, more than the 48 weeks so I would have a decent amount of time to complete it. Another great thing is that I don't have to do all 48 weeks at one place, I can do some weeks at one place and other weeks at a different place but as long as I complete the 48 weeks, it is fine.

Another piece of information is that placement year is optional, I don't have to do it if I don't want to and instead, I can finish my final year but in my case, I want to do placement year, it's something that I think would improve me as a designer.

I must be recorded with the placement unit, that is because it will tell the university that I am actually doing placement and going to it so I can be recorded down so the company and the university can confirm that I am doing it. At the end of placement, I must do a report/presentation, about 1500 - 2000 words long and the final result will just be a pass or fail but if I do fail, that does not affect my degree, if I do pass though, there will be a label on my degree saying 'sandwich'.

Why should I do placement?

- Experience - It will help me in my final year at university because I have gained experience so I would know what to do to pass and I can put what I have learned into my university work. It will help me find a graduate job because I would have the experience so I would know what goes on in the industry and I would be more experienced than those who didn't go on placement.

- Self discovery/motivation - I can do whatever I want.

- Possibly of higher degree classification - It will help my grade.

- Work can be fun

Things to consider....

- I would have to pay £500* in the placement year - I can pay through Student Finance.

- What type of placement? There's a thing called EPY (Enterprise Placement Year) where I can create my own business and there will be people who can help me with that.

- Who would I like to work for? - Will it be short term or full year?

- How will I manager my money? I can still apply for Student Finance but I won't get as much as I do if I'm at university and not at placement.