We're All In This Together

When I wrote my last blog article in 2016 I hadn't planned to park this site. It just kind of happened that way. My youngest was barely a month old, I was trying to impress the powers that be while acting up with a colleague on maternity leave, and I'd stood down as Trustee for PlaceNet in lieu of increased professional and personal responsibility.

In the intervening years, I haven't really felt compelled to write. The eagle eyed amongst you who have followed my Twitter account over the years, will have seen a cryptic pinned message, which followed an incident with the thought police, who considered my social media presence at odds with my employer. Talk about taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

But here I am in April 2020 and for the first time in years I'm writing. And what strange times we find ourselves in. It is bizarre to think that as recently as two weeks ago the schools were still open, placements were still being advertised in good number, and the lockdown had yet to be implemented. Two weeks. Seems like an awful lot longer don't you think?

Like you, I've been going through a period of adjustment. Working from home full time completely at odds with the norm in which WFH was largely frowned upon within my team. Appointments fully switched online/telephone, losing that daily face to face interaction with my colleagues and that unexpected meeting when someone you weren't expecting walks into the office needing my help. Office phone calls diverted to mobile via Jabber. Departmental meetings over Teams. Zoom meetings and webinars. It is only a matter of time before I'll be asked to do Compliance training via Houseparty.

Within the first three hours of homeschooling my kids, I came to realise that failing to get offered a PGCE Primary place in 2002 was the single best thing to ever happen to my career. I'm not a teacher, I don't have the patience or inclination to make exaggerated phonics noises for the letter N. But we are at the end of week 2, and come through relatively unscathed, balancing the demands of the day job with trying to maintain a relatively structured school day for three primary age kids in different key stages. Joe Wicks is a national hero. The world is on its head.

What has struck me most over the past fortnight is the power of community. I've never been the most sociable person in my department. In fact, during an ill-thought through team development session, my personality was publicly shamed as one of the most introverted in a department of 40 people. Big thumbs up to whoever thought that idea was a good way to bring people together.

But after well over a decade of going to the same office five days a week, it is a very strange experience moving to remote working. True I don't have put up with office politics, gossip and the endless supply of birthday cakes in the kitchen, but the loss of community is stark. Sure, you can check in with emails, messages, the occasional phone call, but it is a very different experience from a career of conventional office structure.

It was with great pleasure then that I took up the opportunity to join the ASET Regional Hub South East meeting yesterday morning. I've not been to a physical meeting with them before, in part due to scheduling conflict with school runs, in part due to my previous association with PlaceNet and not wanting to cross the fence. The silliness of tribalism! But as I logged into Zoom yesterday morning, for the first time in two weeks, aside from a few moments of clapping in doorways on a Thursday evening, I felt a tremendous sense of community.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our South East Regional Hub today. Great to see you all and hear how our members are responding to the current situation. Tomorrow, over to the Midlands! #ASETGoesOnline #ASETTopTips pic.twitter.com/A4Ilb8tClT

— ASET (@ASETOnline) April 2, 2020

We had 75 industry colleagues joining together to bring a sense of normality to the prevailing madness. Shared issues of adjusting to remote working, concerns about dwindling placement opportunities, how to assist our students currently facing furlough or dismissal, not to mention juggling work with children. I couldn't help but raise a smile watching other attendees have their kids appear in shot every once in a while or try to gatecrash the meeting.

While the meeting progressed I listened in as attentively as I could, while managing Maths and English classes for my boys, catheterising and even managing a game or two of Uno. There is a myth than men can't multitask, but I'd like to think that I'm going some way to destroy it.

What I took away from the meeting was a feeling of pride. That despite the immediate difficulties we face individually, collectively and within student recruitment as a whole, we are a resolute bunch who have seen economic downturn before and come through the other side, who will run through walls to help our students to make the best of a bad situation.

We don't know what the full effect of this global pandemic will be, but I can say with certainty that placement professionals will tackle this issue head on, doing their absolute best for their students.

I was so proud of my industry colleagues. I am proud to be a Placement Adviser. We are all in this together and we will prevail.

Placement Interviews - Causing Me Panic Since 2006

Yesterday I welcomed an employer into The Placement Office, who conducted interviews for their intern scheme. Typically interviews take place off campus at the base of the company, but on rare occasions like this it is useful to observe the recruitment process in action.

Like any other placement professional who arranges and hosts interviews on campus, I experienced a nagging feeling of dread that consumed my consciousness up until the day has passed. No matter how much attention to detail you put into the organisation of employer interviews, ultimately your reputation and that of the university lies in the hands of your students.

Will they turn up on time? Have they dressed appropriately for an interview? Did they bother with at least some basic research of the company? Dear lord please don't let them ask something totally ridiculous that the interviewer will pick up with me over lunch! I'm not typically of a nervous disposition but interviews on my watch that I have arranged and therefore culpable for turn me into a doubting Thomas.

And yet I should be much more relaxed about it all. I provide my students with simple interview instructions, making it crystal clear where they have to be and when. I remind them that although they are meeting an employer on campus, they should dress in exactly the same way that they would if there were to attend an interview at company HQ. Punctuality is discussed, though as I point out, they really should know how long it will take to get to our building on campus, and are unlikely to get lost in unfamiliar streets en route. I don't say it as such but the inference is clear - please don't make me look like an idiot.

At the conclusion of yesterday's interviews, I was both relieved and proud. There weren't any 'no-shows'. All candidates arrived on or ahead of time. Nobody turned up wearing a hoodie and Timberland boots as I've seen happen before, or a P Diddy style white dinner jacket; dress to impress clearly was lost in translation on that occasion!

Diddy Make It Rain (Photo credits: Giphy)

My pride stemmed from the fact that for most of the interviewees, it was their first placement interview. They clearly took on board the advice they had been offered and prepared accordingly. They looked the part and behaved impeccably as ambassadors for the University. With the employer complimentary for the smoothness of the organisation, I really couldn't have asked for more and went home tired but happy. Hopefully offers will be forthcoming in due course.

In the grand scheme of things, my role as a third party should not be important. Ultimately yesterday was about employers meeting candidates and whatever was discussed in those half hour blocks in my interviewing room is what really counts. Why then do I get so stressed about facilitating these events? In a nutshell, reputation. What is often overlooked by students is how the placement opportunities we upload onto our blackboard/moodle/insertyourownVLE are sourced. Some come directly from employers who market to every university. Others are sourced through intermediary websites such as RateMyPlacement. Then there are the companies who target specific universities, and they are our most precious commodity.

Placements are cyclical and so retaining repeat business is a big part of what we do. Building and maintaining relationships is king. As a consumer, if I receive crap service I will take my business elsewhere. The same principle applies with recruitment. Yesterday was the ninth time I welcomed the same recruiter to campus to meet with my students and I very much want to see them again next year. Despite all those year of building employer relations, it only takes one negative experience for that relationship to be broken, and the loss of a bread and butter internship for future cohorts.

So if you are a student and wonder why your placement team get so mumsy when it comes to interviews, and want to ensure you follow instructions to a T, now you know. We've done our bit to open doors for you; please make sure those doors remain open for the future.

Related articles

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A Time For Giving

Christmas is just a matter of days away and at mid-December I think we can very much say that we are in the season of goodwill. Today apparently is Christmas Jumper Day and judging by my Twitter feed, lots of companies have taken this to heart and been donning their colourful knitwear to raise money for a good cause. Manchester City defender Micah Richards has caused a bit of a stir by pledging to donate £25,000 to charity after receiving messages of support following an injury recurrence suffered midweek playing in Munich. I've directed a few tweets his way encouraging a donation to my chosen charity, but regardless of who receives the cash it is a lovely gesture.

I've recently done something a little outside the box which can probably be classified under the heading of 'Good Samaritan'. I was approached by a student from another university asking if I would mind glancing at their CV and offer feedback. This is something that has happened quite a bit since I started this blog and while my usual response is to point them in the direction of the Placement/Careers team at their own university, on this occasion I agreed. (Note, this was a one off, so please don't bombard my email/LinkedIn with requests for help!)

What I read was very encouraging. There was lots of good material to work with, but as is often the case with the CVs I browse on a daily basis, it required a dash of focus and dabble of finesse to be application ready. A few sprinkles of magic dust and it was returned to the student with kindness. They were happy and the interaction probably should have ground to a halt at that point. Only it didn't.

My instincts wouldn't let me leave things there. When I help my students, I don't just get their CV into shape and pack them off to face the recruitment world all by themselves. If I think they would be well suited to a particular role or company, I make suggestions in a matchmaking fashion. Sometimes it pays off with successful candidates showering me in praise, other times it doesn't but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained.

This person already had a good idea of the industry in which they wished to puruse a career. I put forward a name of a company within that sector. Just like Gin & Tonic, Batman & Robin and Morecambe & Wise, it seemed like a good match. The student showed interest and happily went off to investigate the schemes on offer. And at that point I should have left things be, but like an itch that just won't go away, I took things a stage further.

The company in question are not in my little black book I tap into for sourcing placements. They don't fit into the academic disciplines I work with or offer the type of internships I advertise. However, lodged away in my collection of business cards, I had the contact details of their chief campus recruiter who coincidentally used to be a colleague of mine. It seemed a waste not to put this to good use and at that point I had my own personal Dr Pepper moment; join up the dots and what's the worst that can happen? An introduction turned sour could have lost me some credibility with both the employer and student, but nothing more. So I made it happen.

Is there a happy ending to this tale? I certainly hope so. One informal conversation isn't a gamechanger in itself, but it could be the grease that sets the wheels in motion.

If you have the chance to do so, share a little bit of the Christmas spirit with somebody you don't know. Tis the season to be jolly after all.

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Who's that calling you?

Your CV is a tool with which you present yourself to potential employers. It seems a little crazy that we have to cram our working history and educational achievements into a 2 page document, but that is just how it is. Personal details. Education. Work Experience. Interests. References. Put them altogether, spellcheck, press the send button and wait to see what happens next.

I've written before about the importance of have a professional sounding email address on your CV as you don't want to miss out on opportunities just because you've got something a little eccentric. It is after all one way that an employer is likely to contact you to follow up on your application, so you do need to ensure your email address is fit for purpose and an account you check regularly.

But what about that other mode of communication that we all type on our CV? That 11 digit mobile phone number is there for employers to tap into their handset and call you, often without warning. We put it on our CV without a second thought but are we actually ready for the consequences of our actions? If an employer rings you completely out of the blue, are you ready to take that call?

I'm often disappointed with the phone etiquette that I encounter when I'm contacting my students. When I answer a call I would never say 'Who Is This?' or 'What?' and yet those are greetings I regularly receive. Now, it may well be that they have my number stored on their phone and therefore know that it is the Placement Office calling rather than somebody more important, but I do worry that this may be how they answer all calls.

Picture this if you will. You've applied for a placement. Your CV boasts of excellent communications skills. You have customer service experience which is great because this job involves a lot of client interaction and so you will need to talk in a clear and coherent manner over the telephone. A recruiter likes the look of your CV, wants to invite you for an interview to discuss things further and goes to dial your number. It rings and the recruiter is waiting in anticipation to speak to the person who may very well end up working alongside them. The call is answered, and the voice at the end of the line, the excellent communicator, mutters 'What?'

In one syllable, you've probably just blown your chance.

Making a great first impression is so important when job hunting. It isn't just how well your application form is written. It isn't just your previous work experience. It isn't just how well you scrub up for an interview. It isn't just how you communicate with employers. It is all of the above, demonstrating professionalism in everything you do.

The next time your phone rings with an unknown number, even if you are convinced it is yet another person trying to talk you into making a PPI claim, take that call and treat it with the utmost professionalism from the moment you answer. It could make all the difference.

Good things come to those who wait

A few months ago I wrote an article imploring students to not give up on placements. It was mid-April, exams were coming up on the horizon and understandably focus was on revision rather than application forms. The message of that article was succinct - it's not too late to get a placement, and it is something that I've been repeating on Twitter ever since.

I can understand the mindset of a student, who after months of trying and getting nowhere is prepared to throw in the towel and turn their back on placements. But if I could bottle resilience and sell it, I'd be considerably richer than I am now. During the months of May, June and July, I've had 77 of my students secure placements. That is during months where some people will have thought it too late to get a placement and not bothered to look for one. I don't want to say I told you so but..... well, you know what comes next!

During July alone which is a month when you may expect the well to run dry, more than 30 of my students have secured placements. From interactions with colleagues in other universities, it is a similar picture. July has been a busy month with lots of successes to report. It is the healthiest I've seen the placement market since the Lehman Brothers fallout in 2008 and with what are potentially green shoots of recovery in the economy, there is reason to be optimistic that next year will be even better.

The message for students preparing to embark on their second year at university, combined with searching for a placement, is be ready to play the long game. Many of my students who have secured their placement in recent days have been going hard at it since last autumn and are finally getting the fruit of their endeavour. How we react to setbacks and disappointments is important. You can fall at the first hurdle and give up, or you can learn from the experience and clear it at the next time of asking. Good things can indeed come to those who wait.

Resilience, determination, bloody-mindness. They aren't necessarily the competencies you are asked to expand upon when applying for placements, but they are qualities that many of my students have exhibited in abundance in their search for work experience. It is great to see so many of them now being rewarded for going the distance.

One sentence says it all

Yesterday afternoon I was paid a visit by one of my students who had just completed their placement year. He had literally come from his last morning at work, armed with the leaving presents his colleagues had clubbed together to buy him as a thank you for the last 12 months of service. I asked him how the experience had been an in one sentence summed up everything I think prospective placement students need to know about work experience.

'I learnt more in my placement year than I did in the two years of my course.'

It is the sort of headline that newspaper sub-editors or marketing bods could spend hours trying to formulate. Very simple, direct and powerful. It is a message I'll be quoting many times in the future.

Started a placement this week? Spread the word

July is here and up an down the country hundreds of students are coming to the end of the first week of their placement. Although a number of those on my courses got things under way in June, the start of July has seen a lot more placements commence. If you are one of those people reaching the end of a long first week on the job, well done, you've nearly made it and can turn that alarm clock off this weekend before enjoying what appears to be a glorious sunny couple of days.

Spare a thought though for your friends and classmates who have not been hard at work this week. I'm talking about the people from your course who haven't managed to secure a placement for one reason or another. Maybe they've not had the rub of the green and missed out on roles. Maybe they didn't really think about doing a placement for whatever reason. Maybe they applied for a few roles, were unsuccessful but then gave up. Now, having thought about them, why not get in touch, and give them a few words of motivation. Tell them about the first week of your placement. Give them an idea of what you've already been exposed to. This isn't a case of rubbing your success in their faces; it is a question of inspiration and helping them to get with the programme.

Yes it is July, and yes lots of jobs are already filled, but if your friends believe that it is too late to get a placement, I beg to disagree. In the first 4 days of July, as many students on my courses have secured a placement as managed in the whole of July 2012. We're talking about double digits here, not just one or two. And with plenty more interviews in the pipeline and a number of employers contacting me this week with fresh opportunities, I'm expecting numbers to increase further still.

So when you enjoy a beer or glass of wine this week to toast the end of your first week of placement, be a good friend and tell your mates all about it. It's not over for them yet, and a friendly bit of peer motivation may be just what they need to resurrect their placement search.

#PlaceNet13

Coming up fast on the radar in the placement world is the annual PlaceNet conference. Taking place in Bristol from 15-17 May, #PlaceNet13 provides the platform for placement professionals to share good practice, debate the issues affecting our industry and pick up ideas on how to better the service we provide to students in their search for industry based work experience. Throw in the networking and social aspects of the conference and this is an event that should not be missed.

Having attended the conference in 2012 (read my review here) I'm pleased to be going back again this year for a second instalment. The schedule is already starting to take shape with speakers from a range of backgrounds include graduate recruitment, the NUS, placement officers and somebody who had the daft idea to spend their spare time writing a placement blog.

With confirmed attendees from universities across England and Wales, it promises to be another fantastic conference. You can find out more details about #PlaceNet13 on the PlaceNet website and if you are on LinkedIn be sure to join the group Placenet - Placements In Industry Network

I hope to see you in Bristol in a few weeks time.

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Considering a placement? Get crackin’!

Here is a guest article written by the good folk at Gradcracker. If you are looking for a placement in the field of Science, Engineering or Technology, make sure you add them to your favourites.

With hundreds of thousands of students graduating this year, the job market is fiercely competitive. Statistics taken from a recent High Fliers Survey showed that there is an average of 52 applications per graduate job. To give yourself a better chance of securing a job, you should try to gain work experience whilst studying – securing a work placement is therefore becoming more and more worthwhile.

The benefits of doing a work placement are many and increase your employability drastically. Work placements are becoming more and more common, with some courses making them compulsory. On Gradcracker we advertise hundreds of Science, Engineering and Technology work placement opportunities all year round. Most companies tend to divide these between summer and year-long placements but shorter placements are becoming more frequent especially amongst Technology companies.

Get that placement!

Writing a CV and covering letter can be a lengthy and tiresome process but they are crucial to your chances of success. Employers are looking for evidence you fit the role and they look for what they refer to as ‘key competencies’. Common key competencies include: problem-solving, leadership, teamwork, decision-making and communication skills. When writing your CV and covering letter make sure you check what skills the employer is particularly looking for and try and highlight these in your application. Use your covering letter to show that you meet the key requirements and you are familiar with the company and what it does. A lot of students make the mistake of using a scatter-gun approach when applying for placements, try not to do this and, instead, send targeted applications to your chosen employers. Last but not least check, check and check your application again and then get a second opinion – spelling and factual mistakes could put you straight into the ‘no’ pile regardless of your qualifications and experience. If you are struggling to compile a CV and covering letter pay a visit to your careers advisor who will be more than happy to help.

Social media is part of our day-to-day life and is great for catching up with friends and family. The increase in the usage of social media and online activity means it is easy for employers to do a quick search for you online. This is becoming more and more common and is being used as a ‘screening method’. It can provide a ‘living CV’ for the employer: all your social networking accounts, photographs, blogs and comments you have made might be accessed. Make sure you delete or hide anything that could damage your chances of securing a placement. Similarly, ensure you have a professional sounding email address such as firstname.lastname@email.com and a suitable voicemail if employers try to contact you!

Making the most of your placement!

Starting a placement can be a daunting experience with new surroundings and new people. But it is also an opportunity to learn and to make new contacts.

Before starting your placement, you should think about what you want to achieve from your placement and also think about what your employer expects from you. Make sure you check what time you should start and try to arrive a little earlier - starting early/leaving late will only impress. If you are unsure of the dress code, phone beforehand to check as you don’t want to be making a negative first impression on your first day. It may sound obvious but ensure you are polite when talking to colleagues and others.

When you begin your placement try not to be nervous. Whilst a new workplace, job and colleagues may seem a little frightening, after even just a day or two things will start to feel familiar. Making notes during briefings shows an eagerness to learn and get things right and if you need clarification don’t be afraid to ask. During your placement show enthusiasm and initiative, try to do everything to the best of your ability and make a lasting impression – a lot of employers view a placement as an extended interview for their graduate programme.

At the end of your placement thank people who went out of their way to make your stay such a valuable experience, for example, supervisors and colleagues. Try and get a written reference as this will be beneficial when applying for Graduate opportunities. Lastly, think about the skills you have learned and what your placement has taught you.

For further advice take a look at the Gradcracker toolkit here

Gradcracker is the careers website for Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) university students and for employers of SET undergraduates and graduates. Our employers receive over 4,000 visitors a day to their corporate websites direct from gradcracker.com. Gradcracker is now in its sixth year and the UK’s leading employers recognise it as the number one place to recruit SET students - over 300 companies regularly advertise on gradcracker.com. 

By Claire Sugden from Gradcracker

We've come a long long way together

Cover via Amazon

If you are a student who has been looking for a placement since the autumn and not yet secured one, you're probably a little bit fed up by now. You've made dozens of applications, endured those pesky online tests, maybe come up short a couple of times at assessment centres or just missed out in interviews. If this sounds very familiar, you have every right to feel disheartened.

With the end of year exams fast coming up on the horizon, you may even be thinking about throwing in the towel and giving up on the placement dream, feeling understandably bitter at the hours and days lost without reward. Nobody likes being told 'thanks, but no thanks', particularly if you're getting that Bill Murray Groundhog Day sensation of deja vu.

So if you've had enough of placements, I sympathise with your frustration. But before you call it quits, I just want to let you in on a little stat. I was going through my placement spreadsheet (supergeek!) from last year to see when my students secured their roles. What month do you think it was that was the most successful in terms of numbers? Well, I can tell you it wasn't any time before Christmas. It wasn't January. February? No. It wasn't March or April either. The single most prolific month for my students in securing placements during 2011/12 was May.

Check your calendar folks, we're not there yet. You might well have been doing this now for more than 6 months without reward, but I urge you to stick with it a while longer. Every application made, every interview taken, every rejection email received will have made you battle hardened and ready to strike gold. Whereas earlier in your placement journey you may have lacked interview experience, you'll now be more confident in answering questions and presenting yourself to companies as someone they want to employ.

If you give up now, all of your efforts to this point will have been in vain. I can't promise that if you keep going you will be rewarded for your endeavour, but just as my students couldn't see where their placement offer was coming from last year, yours could be just around the corner.

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We sold our souls to the man

Something that my students often struggle with is selling their skills. Often when you scratch below the surface they have brilliant things to talk about, but on first viewing their CVs can look pretty ordinary. If given the chance to meet with a recruiter there is an opportunity to rectify this by putting meat on the bones of an application, but that can only be done if the first review is passed. As such it is hugely important for aspiring placement students to sell themselves from the word go.

It is not just my students who find this a difficult craft to master. I'm as guilty of underselling myself as anybody. Standing on rooftops and shouting about the good work I'm doing or recent achievements just doesn't come naturally, but it is something I'm determined to conquer, hence the addition of some personal achievements to the Desktop version of this blog.

When making my submissions for the NPIAs last autumn, rather than limit myself to just words, I decided to create a short video clip to highlight some of the work I've undertaken as The Placement Officer. In the months since then I've attempted several articles in which I hoped to portray this vid as an example of how to make an application stand out, but they all felt pretty narcissistic and so never saw the light of day.

However, determined to make sure I work towards my 7 C's of digital career literacy I'm not going to discard the promo now that it has served its initial purpose and been played in front of a judging panel. Instead I am going to publish the clip here for all and sundry to watch.

So what do we have here: A useful marketing tool? A Placement Assistant with a chip on his shoulder? A clever way to demonstrate I don't take myself too seriously? You decide.

If viewing from a mobile browser and the video clip does not appear, use this link 

For anybody interested in the technical side, this clip was put together using nothing more sophisticated than Windows Live Movie Maker, images captured using print screen and a little imagination.

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4 Ways to Improve Your CV

We all know that a good CV can make the difference in getting a foot in the door with an employer. Judging by some of the drafts I receive from my students, there are varying degrees of interpretation on what makes for a good CV! This guest article courtesy of AllTheTopBananas.com provides 4 simple straightforward ways to improve your CV, and hopefully get you in front of a recruiter.

When it comes to searching for a job, your CV is one of the most important tools that you have. It’s the first impression that you’ll give most employers, and if you want to fight off the competition, it needs to be well written and showcase your skills in the best possible way.

Let’s take a look at 4 ways in which you can improve your CV.

Focus on results, not tasks

This is a mistake that most people make. Rather than simply listing the tasks that you carried out in your previous roles, focus on the achievements that you made. For example, a restaurant manager focusing on tasks might say ‘I managed the restaurant during busy service periods’. If they were focusing on results though, they might say ‘I increased daily sales by 25% over a three month period’. Even if your CV mainly includes trainee jobs without a great deal of responsibility, there will be ways to showcase the results that you helped to achieve.

Include a personal statement

Many people don’t bother to include a personal statement in their CV, but it’s a great way to get noticed and stand out from the crowd. A personal statement is basically a couple of short paragraphs at the beginning that tell the employer about your skills and experience, before they get into the nitty gritty. In this section, back your claims up with brief evidence. Rather than just listing qualities such as ‘team player, strong communicator and problem solver’, explain how you’ve acquired these skills or developed them.

Cut out the waffle

When you’re applying for a job, it’s likely that not everything that you have on your CV will be relevant. If this is the case, be ruthless and cut it out. If you have a Masters degree and ten years experience in your sector, for example, it’s not necessary to list all of your GCSE results and the groups that you were involved in at school. Most employers are inundated with applications for every job that they advertise, so make their job easier for them. Stick to the relevant and useful information, and if possible, keep your CV to 2 pages of A4.

Tailor your CV for each application 

You should never send exactly the same CV to every employer. Recruiters will be able to spot this from a mile away, and it gives out the message that you aren’t really interested in their company or this particular position. Before sending your CV, read through the job description and person specification very carefully. Consider how you can make some tweaks and changes so you’re meeting all of the requirements. It could take less than half an hour to do this, and it could be the difference between being invited for an interview and having your application rejected.

Have you updated your CV recently? What do you think are the most important aspects?

This article was brought to you by Ruth Hinds on behalf of AllTheTopBananas. ATTB allows you to search for and browse through UK jobs in one place, from IT jobs in Cambridge to receptionist jobs in Liverpool. You can also upload your CV to increase your chances of being headhunted.

Guest Article - My Day at the NPIAs

Here is an article written by Dan Garlick, who won a competition to be my guest at the National Placement & Internship Awards. Dan kindly kept a diary of his day and wanted to share his experience of the NPIAs. It was a pleasure to meet him and glad that he enjoyed the event. Hopefully some networking on the day will help him to secure a summer placement later this year in the Financial Sector. Feel free to connect with Dan via LinkedIn if you're recruiting talent. Over to Dan......

07:34 I'm awake, my flatmate is not. He has work at 08:00, but I'm too busy tweeting to move from my bed. If you learn anything from this blog do not buy a Tesco's own iron, it puts more creases in a shirt than you start with. I thought I best wake him, knock on the door, no answer, text him asking if he is getting up for work, reply 'No!' It appears that someone else has the day off work and is not impressed that I woke them, apologies! 

Train is on time, however there's not a place to hang my suit jacket. Lovely spring morning as the train passes the Olympic Park. Off the train at Liverpool Street and head underground to Islington for breakfast with my cousin. Back towards the centre, to St Paul's. I have some time to kill so I visit the Museum of London for an hour and then search for lunch. 

Off to the venue where I meet The Placement Officer who dwarfs me with his sheer height. We get checked in by the RateMyPlacement team, collect our badges and begin to mingle with the other delegates. I'm naturally nervous as I've never been to a networking event but TPO and his university colleagues help to settle the nerves. 

The champagne begins to flow, which loosens the tongue a little and the first business card is handed out. I begin to fend for myself and move away from TPO's shadow and try and network myself. There goes another business card ...

Back into the auditorium for the main event, that everybody was there for. Three top class speakers start the ceremony, with The Apprentice finalist Nick Holzherr concluding with a motivational piece in regards to not giving up. Unfortunately The Placement Officer just missed out on his award, however he should of won it! Definitely a top bloke.

When Dan met The Placement Officer

Bento boxes? Are you aware of these? You get given a wooden oriental style tray and fill it up with food. Genius. After the food the networking continued and I continued to meet new people and gain advice.
Back to Liverpool Street, next stop Ipswich, then bed. 

A massive thanks to The Placement Officer for inviting me and congratulations to the winners and also RMP for hosting a great event! I definitely enjoyed my day in the capital.

Related articles

• NPIAs 2013
• And the award goes to.........

Guest Post - Preparation overkill

My guest blogger returns with this little story about the dangers of over-preparing for an assessment centre. Just because you think you know it all, doesn't give you a green light for success......

Knowledge is power, use that power carefully..

Picture the scene; you have just been invited to the assessment centre for your dream job and so
you start searching Google, high and low for anything that you can find to prepare you for the day.
Aha, you seem to have struck gold, you find a WikiJobs post detailing everything that happens on
the day, including the questions that will be asked and details of all of the assessment tasks. You pat
yourself on the back, for your most excellent research skills!

You read this information religiously, analysing all of the answers on the WikiJobs post, building
a picture in your head of how the assessment centre will be. You feel confident, memorising your
responses to the questions that you know will be coming up. After all, the post on WikiJobs is
detailed and the original poster has confirmed that they have been successful at this very same
assessment centre.

The day of the assessment centre arrives and it is going well, in fact it is just as you read online; a
couple of individual tasks and a group task. In the group task you know the answer before even
reading the brief and so you recite what you have been practising to the group. Other members of
the group don’t seem to understand, but you push on regardless as clearly you know the correct
answer. You feel good, leading the group, finishing the task early, you must have impressed the
assessors. You feel your preparation has paid off, all the revising and reciting, you know you have
given all the correct answers.

A couple of days later you receive a phone call from the company to let you know that you have
unfortunately been unsuccessful at the assessment centre.

What went wrong here? This is a worrying trend that I have been hearing about recently where
candidates have over prepared, so much so that they have blinded themselves to the reality of an
assessment centre or interview, often they have no idea what went wrong. In the scenario above,
even though the candidate correctly completed all of the tasks at the assessment centre, they
committed the gravest sin of them all; they failed to demonstrate their key competencies.

Because this person was so sure they knew what was coming up they didn't listen to what they were actually asked to do on the day. E.g. in the group task, all focus was on going for the right answer. The recruiters weren't necessarily looking for this; they wanted to see how you work together with the group to achieve a shared goal.

Preparation is vital to achieve success in interviews or assessment centres. Just be careful not to take your eye off the ball and allow your eagerness to impress cause you to miss the point of the task.

Related articles

• What do I need to know about Assessment Centres?
• Getting to Grips with Group Exercises
• Guest Post - Cracking Careers Fairs

Happy birthday to me

Birthday Cake (Photo credit: Will Clayton)

It is the 30th January and a quick flick through the article history of this site tells me that Tales from the Placement Office is one year old today. This time last year when I started typing enthusiastically away, I didn't know if I'd still be going in 2013 but I'm pleased to be here and still going strong.

The cyclical nature of my job means that I've turned a full circle. What I wrote in the first article a year ago is very much where I am today. Business is starting to pick up in a big way and undoubtedly it is time to get busy. Three of my students secured placements yesterday, many more have interviews in the coming days and weeks and all the stress and sweat put into the Autumn term will now start to bear fruit as the number of students with placements secured builds steadily. I'm anticipating it will be a good year and certainly hope that proves to be the case.

Having reached this milestone, I'm giving quite a lot of thought towards the future direction of this blog. I've built up a nice little audience and have no intention of deserting you, but I am very conscious that I don't want the content to become repetitive. While there will be topics that merit new articles, there is only so much that can be written about documenting your experience or creating a good first impression without starting to sound like a broken record.

Some of the most popular articles over the last year have featured external content, such as the video for How to kill your career in 140 characters, the RateMyPlacement Top Employers Guide and the article about Careers Fairs written by my Guest Blogger. I'd like to think I'm in tune with my audience and if there is wider interest in the blog posts that aren't exclusively my witterings, I'm happy to give you what you want.

I'm therefore looking for other people to get involved to help keep this site content rich. You may be a student currently looking for a placement and want to share your experience of the process to date. You could be someone coming to the end of your placement and want to tell the world about why it has been such a worthwhile experience. Maybe you're an employer wanting to reach out to students and placement officers about your fantastic placement and internship opportunities. I'd also love to hear from other Placement Officers about the innovative ways in which they are helping their students to secure work experience.

If you feel like you want to contribute to the site or want to get in touch to discuss things further. I'm looking forward to hearing from you and seeing what collectively we can bring to this site over the next 12 months.

Related articles

• A year in the making
• Rate My Placement - Top Employers Guide 2012/13
• Introducing 'The Placement Officer'
• The 7 C's of Digital Career Literacy - In Practice
• And the award goes to.........

A year in the making

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. 

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!

Related articles

• And the award goes to.........
• Rate My Placement - Top Employers Guide 2012/13
• Ignore work experience at your peril
• Today was a good day
• Nobody said this would be easy

Today was a good day

In every job I've held, there have been good days and there have been bad days. I'm approaching my 7th anniversary of working in the placement industry and the reason why I generally approach my desk every day with a spring in my step is because on the whole there are more good days than bad. Today was no exception. Today was a good day.

Things started off with a packed inbox. One of my courses had a deadline for what is usually a very popular placement opportunity. A few days ago I was sitting on just a couple of applications. Clearly word had got around and when the deadline passed in total I had 33 applications to send to the employer. Quantity is not as important as quality, but I was delighted with the standard of CVs and covering letters that had been submitted. A big box ticked for all the groundwork laid in the autumn term through lectures and appointments.

This afternoon I hosted an employer who was presenting to a class of students who I help to find placements. The employer founded a games company following their own placement year and got the business off the ground while still at the university. Some 7 years later, the business is now 60+ employees strong, producing games played by millions of people around the world. Not forgetting his roots, the employer returned to the university, as he has done every year since graduating, to present about the business and inspire the next class of students to apply for placements, whether in his company or elsewhere in the industry. As much as I back myself to sell the benefits of placements to my students, there is nothing quite so effective as hearing the success story from someone who had sat in the same lecture theatre from the same course not so long ago, and gone on to build their empire. I'm expecting lots of appointment requests from this class in the coming week as a result!

On my way home from work, I was greeted with a message from my guest blogger who informed me that they had received two graduate job offers this afternoon. Knowing how much hard work and dedication has gone into applications, preparing for assessment centres and interviews, along with the string of disappointments that have gone their way in recent months, I can't begin to express in words how pleased I was for them. Success earned the hard way, and thoroughly deserved.

And then this evening came the small matter of the first #PlacementChat of 2013. What started as an idea a few months ago and had humble beginnings with just a handful of participants has blossomed into something on a much larger scale. Tonight I was joined by recruiters from several companies, fellow career and placement professionals, career bloggers, RateMyPlacement and an incredible number of students all wanting to ask questions about placements and internships. Information was sought about interviews, assessment centres, placements, how to answer particular questions, and in return the participants received advice from professionals and the chance to network. What began as a hashtag on my notepad is evolving into a melting pot of opportunity, where placement stakeholders interact through social media in a way that they weren't necessarily doing so before. 

Today was a good day. Here's hoping for many more to come. 

Related articles

• Some days are better than others
• Ignore work experience at your peril
• Nobody said this would be easy