Why you should do a placement year at uni

6 March 2018By Lucy N. , Staff writer at Unite Students
Student having an interview for a job

What are your options for doing a placement year? How long do they last? What are they like? All these questions are answered by our student vlogger Lucy in her latest video. With a little help from her flatmates, Lucy weighs up the pros and cons of doing a placement year at university.

Here’s why Lucy thinks you should do a work placement.

1) Improve your employability

A placement is a chance to get valuable work experience, that’s relevant to your future career, under your belt - something you might not be able to do at a part-time, term-time job.

2) Meet new friends

Lucy is living with five other students who are also doing a placement at Waitrose. They’ve become close friends, and she also likes her colleagues too.

3) Earn some money

Not all placements are paid but, if you get onto one that is, what a great chance to chip away at your student overdraft. It's also a good opportunity to practice your budgeting skills before leaving uni and heading out into the real world.

4) Make career choices

Lucy has decided, from her own experiences and her flatmates’, exactly what she does and doesn’t want to do for work when she graduates.

5) Sharpen your final-year focus

Waking up at 6am to get ready for work, and staying focused throughout the working week, will help Lucy tackle her busy third-year schedule.

Watch the video above to find out some of the concerns students have going into a placement year, and why you needn’t be worried.

Lucy N. blog author for The Common Room
By Lucy N. Staff writer at Unite Students