12 months ago I had the good fortune to attend the National Placement and Internship Awards, RateMyPlacement's annual event that recognises the good work of universities and employers in the placement industry, and celebrates the success of the top interns and placement students. The clip below provides a nice recap of how things unfolded on the day.
I left the event feeling inspired. Maybe it was listening to the stories of triple Olympic medallist Steve Backley, or perhaps it was talking with some of the student nominees about the highlights of their work experience and plans beyond graduation. Whatever it was, when I left City University that evening I felt my passion for placements elevated to another level, and on my journey home the first thoughts about developing a placement-themed blog started to take shape. One year on, and I'm still here doing my thing, so I guess it wasn't such a bad idea.
I will be heading back to the NPIAs again next month, and very much look forward to being inspired again. Only this time, I want to share the experience with somebody else. And that person could be you.
As a thank you to everybody who has read my blog, viewed my Pinterest board, engaged with me on Twitter or taken part in #PlacementChat over the last year, I am offering one of you the chance to be my guest at the Awards. I have two invitations. One of them is for me, the other could be yours.
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| 2 Invites. 1 is mine. Who wants the other? |
If you fancy taking a trip to London town on Friday 15 February and have the opportunity to network with the top placement and graduate recruiters, as well as enjoy the great hospitality of RateMyPlacement, read the small print below and then leave me a comment on this article telling me why you would like to be my guest at the Awards. You have until 9pm on Wednesday 23 January to do so.
Important Stuff
- The NPIAs are taking place on 15 February in Central London. If you can't realistically be in Central London on 15 February, don't throw your name in the hat.
- The times listed on the invitation is 2.00pm - 7.00pm. Going on my experience of 2012, the Awards may stretch beyond 7.00pm so bear this in mind when considering your travel arrangements.
- More information about the event can be found at www.rmpawards.co.uk
- The invitation covers entry to the Awards only. It doesn't cover your travel expenses to and from London or any other expenses incurred. They are your responsibility and I cannot offer any financial support (though if you're lucky I may buy you a drink when the Awards moves to the pub afterwards). I appreciate this may restrict things to people based in the South East, but I can't do anything about the location of the event.
- The dress code for the event is smart casual. Look at the video clip above and you'll see that the majority of attendees leaned towards smart. Turn up in a hoodie and timberland boots and I'll revoke your invitiation
- It is not a mandatory requirement to do so, but the winner will be invited to pen a short guest article for my blog, documenting their experience of the NPIAs.
- There is only one invitation available so there will only be one winner. The winner will be chosen by me and my decision will be final.
- Please include your Twitter username in your comment - I'll need to contact the winner to let them know the good news!
Firstly congratulations on opening the above video and more importantly your award last year! I've been following your tweets and blogs for a while and they definitely helped through my placement journey.
ReplyDeleteMy short time at University is rapidly approaching an end - however it has been extended by a placement year with Bosch. The step from the sheltered university lifestyle to the big wide world can often appear scary. An opportunity like this will definitely help bridge the 'scariness' gap, by going out there and meeting the people who could be my next employer.
If selected I shall buy some business cards and don a nice suit. At the event I will look to network and meet new people, but also share my experiences from the long days at recruitment centers, rejections, keeping my head up and finally success.
Upon my return I shall happily write an article for your blog about the experience and who I had the chance to meet.
Good luck for this years award!
@djgarlick #placementchat
Dear 'theplacementofficer'
ReplyDeleteI would love the opportunity to go to the National Placement and Internship Awards. I have been looking for a placement since September and have found it extremely difficult despite having lots of work experience. With your help, the help from Ratemyplacement and help from others through #placementchat, I have gained some great advice and feel much more confident when applying for placements and jobs. I've got my fingers crossed for a placement!
As you know, I'd like to go into a career in HR and I am currently leaning more towards specialising in recruitment and graduate recruitment! The National Placement and Internship Awards would therefore, be a great place for me to network and learn off many people already working within that sector.
I would like to meet some of the inspirational people who win the awards such as some of those mentioned in the video above. It looks like an interesting and exciting day which would be advantageous to all that attend. I know how important the topic of placements is in the current climate and would love the opportunity to learn more about behind the scenes with employers and students who have already done placements compared to myself, I'm just starting!
I am not afraid of networking and socialising with new people and sharing my experiences. I already have an outfit I can wear and I'm great company!! If I do say so myself! :) I am very happy to write all about my experience once I'm back at university.
Thank you for the opportunity to attend the awards.
@clare98765
What a brilliant idea!
ReplyDeleteI have also been following your blog for the better part of a year now. I regularly pass your blog on to our students as a source of inspiration for their placement search. I always find it full of useful information, links and ideas. And you never fail to entertain! Could I expect the same from an evening at a swanky awards ceremony in the big smoke? Hmmm...seems too much to hope for!
I'm not a student so I wouldn't be attending with the hope of meeting my placement match. At my institution we are just getting into the placement game so I would be keen to learn as much as possible about how the experts are making it work. And I'd be very happy to write a guest blog post about the experience.
I'll certainly understand if you'd rather take a student who might gain more from the experience personally.
Enjoy the selection process and thanks for once again sharing a great idea that I may use myself one day!
@kg53
Being a 3rd year student at the moment and wrestling with my 15,000 word dissertation, placements have always been on my mind. After failing to get anything for this year after applying to over 250 schemes and companies; it really made me despondent about my abilities and employment prospects.
ReplyDeleteNow I have secured a summer placement for this coming summer, I feel a lot better about myself. After engaging in many extra curricular activities such as Microsoft Promotions, Cloud Computing work and promo and writing tech articles and mentoring first year students, I have endeavoured to make myself attractive to employers for when I do graduate. I'm predicted a 1st for when I finish my MComp degree in 2014 and my grades reflect this prediction currently.
I am very approachable, many students talk to me about issues and of course Microsoft related items too. I'm hard working, punctual and very enthusiastic about the IT sector and in particular Project Management (Dissertation topic) and the Cloud Industry.
@ZoeeeeRedfern
Thank you all for your comments. I'd have loved to have been able to take you all to the NPIAs but regrettably I only have one spare ticket. As announced via Twitter this evening, joining me at the awards will be Dan Garlick. Commiserations to those who have missed out, but let me know if there is anything I can do to help you with your search for work experience (or in Korin's case, share good practice for placements)
ReplyDelete