Finding and applying for work experience and placement opportunities – useful resources.

Vacancy sources

The Careers Centre offers a variety of placements on our online vacancy system

Log in with your university username and password, select ‘Vacancies’ and then ‘Advanced Search’. You can then search by location, vacancy type and/or type of work.

You can sort searches by closing date, location or alphabetically and you can also save searches to your profile by pressing the ‘shortlist’ button.

The following sites also advertise placements and/or internships

Prospects

Rate my Placement

Milkround

Target Jobs

Grad Jobs

Fledglings.net

GET

Student Employment Services (SES)

Internjobs.com

Employment4students Internship pages

Step Enterprise

Placement UK

AIESEC

IAESTE

British Council (Language Assistantships)

Erasmus JOE

Search Engines

If you are searching online try the following keywords;

Internship(s)

Placement(s)

Work placement(s)

Student placement(s)

Industrial placement

Year in industry

You may also wish to target your online search by adding details of specific companies you’re looking for a placement with, types of jobs and/or locations.

Speculative Approaches

Not all opportunities will be advertised so don’t forget to make speculative approaches. A speculative approach simply involves contacting a company you’re interested in working for and enquiring about opportunities or creating your own opportunity with them.

Securing a work placement is a competitive process, making a speculative approach can help you reduce the competition and can be a highly effective way of securing a placement. Speculative applications enable you to discuss your placement requirements with an employer and allow you to tailor your placement to your needs. Searching for your placement will help you to build networks and knowledge of the industry sector which you are interested in and therefore will help support your application.

Use contacts and networks that you have already established. Speak to family and friends and find out if any of their colleagues or acquaintances work in the area you wish to find work experience, or speak to your personal tutors or lecturers at the University to find out if they have contacts in the specific area you are interested in.

The University of Leeds also offers the Leeds Graduate Careers Network that provides you with the opportunity to contact University of Leeds graduates and network

Careers Centre resources

Careers Centre Information staff have put together useful resource sheets tailored to your faculty

These sheets detail the resources available within the Information Room and online to help your career planning and job hunting.

The Information Room also contains occupational information as well as a variety of resources and guides that contain useful information on job searching, graduate and placement employers and vacancies.

Employer Events

The employer presentations, drop-in days, workshops and talks organised by the Careers Centre can also provide you with a fantastic opportunity to find out more about positions available to you as well as offering an invaluable opportunity to network with employers -

Leeds for Life

Find out about the activities and opportunities in your school and across campus that will help you get the most from your time at University.

Part-time work

For part time and part time courserelated Work visitJoblink in LUU

Erasmus

If you are undertaking a work placement abroad (within the EU) as part of your course you may be eligible for an Erasmus Work bursary. For more information visit

Tips onmakingapplications

  • Get it checked – get your CV, cover letter or application form checked at the Careers Centre via our drop-in service (Mon-Fri 9am- 4.00pm).
  • Make it different - Tailor and change your CV and cover letter for every application.
  • Do your homework - research both the company and role you are applying for in depth and focus on the skills and attributes they look for in potential employees. Employers will want to know why you’ve chosen them and what it is about that particular role that interests you, your CV and covering letter or application form should clearly demonstrate this to any potential employer.
  • Keep a record - Keep a copy of all applications you make, including dates, CVs, covering letters and answers to application form questions. Each application should be focused on the company and role you are applying for. It is essential that you know what you included in each application so that when you are invited to an interview, you know exactly what your initial application included and can prepare for the interview more effectively.
  • Attention to detail – follow instructions - clearly follow any instructions you’re given about making an application, a company will use any method they possibly can to shortlist applicants, don’t let yourself down by not following instructions.
  • Attention to detail – spelling and grammar - don’t forget to check your applications carefully before you send them. If your application, CV or covering letter contains spelling and grammatical errors you will not make a positive first impression.
  • Apply early – don’t wait until the last minute to apply! A lot of companies will fill places as soon as they receive suitable applications and positions may be filled before the application closing date so apply as early as possible to make sure your application is considered.
  • Stay positive - applying is a competitive process, so keep a positive perspective and continue to look for placements; you will succeed if you are willing to put in some hard work. If you don’t get the first position you apply for don’t be disheartened, continue searching and make use of the Careers Centre resources and staff.

Rebecca08.10.10