By Hannah Mclennaghan
Hi, I’m Hannah, a student Placement Ambassador for 2016-17, and also studying for my BA in Business Management with Employment Experience. I carried out my placement year at Virgin Media in 2016.
If you’ve already got a house in Sheffield for next year or want to stick around Sheffield while on Placement, I’ve put together some really useful advice about how and where you can find a placement in Sheffield, that might just help you.
Why do a placement year in Sheffield?
It is the perfect opportunity to get the best of both worlds! You can remain in the City you love whilst gaining an invaluable experience and a complimentary asset to your degree. It also means if you have only just decided to do a placement year it is not too late, as you do not need to drop out of your housing contract for next year!
Where do I find a local placement?
The easiest place to start your search is the University’s internal portal Career Connect. You can access this through MUSE and use the filters: Yearlong placements, (the business area) and South Yorkshire as your location and you will arrive at a list of opportunities. Other great job sites are Milkround, Graduate recruitment Bureau, Rate my placement & Linkedin
What kind of opportunities are in Sheffield?
There is a magnitude of placements currently available; on Career Connect alone there are 50 currently still open. A local placement can be a great opportunity to gain experience in a corporate or slightly smaller company which can provide a more unique, tailored and rounded experience- giving you an insight into the company’s operations in its entity. Many local placements advertise solely to the University of Sheffield management students, giving you an extremely high chance of success!
What support is available for me?
If you would like to do a placement year, contact the employability hub: mgt.employability@sheffield.ac.uk and you will be assigned a mentor. They will provide you with support in searching for placements, doing your application, preparing you for interviews and general advice and guidance. The employability hub can also check CVs and cover letters. Once out on placement your degree will change to add “with employment experience”. You will be visited twice during the year and you will need to carry out a small assessment at the end (which is easier than you think!)
If you would like any further advice you can get in touch with all of the Placement Ambassadors at mgt.pl.ambassadors@sheffield.ac.uk