Today’s guest post is written by Vanya Encheva, a final year Human Resource Management student and one of our receptionists here at Careers. Here she shares her thoughts on why doing a 12-month placement is a really good idea…
When being at university you meet so many people coming from all walks of life. Some of them you are interacting with, with other you are doing projects together or just communicating. You speak to many academic and non-academic staff and all this experience makes you wiser. And then there is the moment when you realise what you want to do, who you want to become and to how much you want it. For the past couple of years, I have realised that not only I am more knowledgeable than before but also I am more prepared for the real life too. One of the most important things that have been driving me along the path of success is to believe in myself. Every one of us has their own strengths and weaknesses but the real struggle becomes when you start fighting for what you really want. Get out of your comfort zone, grab your chance, and fight for it. Fight for your opportunities because some of them will never come around again.
Usually there are many students that want to work exactly the same job as you do, at exactly the same place that you want. Probably they have similar ambitions and degree to yours. How do you make yourself stand out from the crowd? I personally believe that the key is in your personal and unique experience. This is where the placement plays its vital role and that’s why I choose to go on one.
Now, you might ask yourself what are the benefits from it?
- You meet great people that want to help you develop your skills and expand your knowledge on the industry where you work.
- You become part of a team and know how to behave in a professional setting as well as know what language you should use when at work.
- Most of the students create lifelong friendships and links with fellow colleagues while on a placement.
- You constantly network with people from all walks of life which broadens your horizons.
- You become more confident in communicating with directors and managers, as well as you interact on a daily basis with people at different levels.
- You become more responsible, improve your time management and know how to deal with lots of data.
- You get the incredible opportunity to observe different situations and shadow managers which shows you how to deal with unexpected and challenging situations and people.
- You can benefit from different training available and in this way further develop your communication, team work, persuasion or any other skills that you want to work on.
- And last but not least … You get paid!
After being on a placement, I feel more ready to embrace the working life than ever before. Now I know the feeling of getting at 5:45am every working day and to chase your dream. Because once I had my placement success poster put on the wall at the University of Bradford I told myself ‘’I made it because I can.’’
Thanks Vanya. If you’d like to find out more about placements and internships, check out our webpages, see our facebook page every Tuesday for our weekly picks, and get in touch with us on 01274 234991.