Following the recent FET employer fair in the Adelphi Hotel, many of you have called into the Careers Zone to discuss your placement options and applications. In part 1 of our blog post, we answer your burning questions and provide tips to help you secure the placement you want.

How do I get started with my placement search?

Gaining an understanding of the range of opportunities out there is essential to get to know your options and to help you decide which placements to apply for:

• Read the placement case studies in the FET career planning guide. In these, LJMU students and graduates reflect on their placements, provide peer-to-peer advice on the recruitment process, and give useful tips on improving your employability. These case studies also illustrate the wide range of roles and organisations FET students have completed their placements with.
• Check your LJMU inbox regularly for updates and placement vacancies from lecturers and placement staff in the faculty and use the job search on Careers Zone 24/7.
• Gradcracker is the UK’s main careers website for STEM students and you can find lots of placement opportunities aimed at Maths, Engineering, Computing and Built Environment students on here. Start by looking at the ‘hub’ for your subject area, and then filter results further by specialism/discipline or location. Reading through the short job descriptions and requirements for each role provides a great overview of the range of opportunities available, and also illustrates how many different placement options are offered with large employers.
• Researching opportunities on Indeed gives a similar overview of placement opportunities, but is likely to bring up additional roles not listed on Gradcracker, as this website also directly pulls in adverts from company websites. Start with broader search terms (e.g. IT placement, mechanical engineering placement) and then narrow down further.

I haven’t found many placements that interest me. / I can’t see any placements advertised near where I live – what can I do?

If you’ve got a particular interest in a more niche area or haven’t found what you were looking for, a more proactive approach might be needed:

• Get creative! Find companies in the field that you are interested in and contact them directly to ask about any work experience and placement opportunities they offer. SMEs (i.e. smaller and medium-sized companies) might not regularly advertise placements, but are still likely to be open to enquiries and might offer opportunities for proactive and enthusiastic candidates. If you see a job advert for a graduate role that sounds interesting, contact the organisation and ask about work experience – as they are currently recruiting new staff, the company is likely to be in a good position and therefore might be able to offer further opportunities.
• Take advantage of your personal and professional network. Who do you know that works in sectors and companies of interest to you? Could you ask them to pass on a copy of your CV to a manager or colleague at work?
• Use LinkedIn to find professionals working in your chosen field or region. For example, by searching for ‘building surveyor Belfast’ and setting your search results to ‘People’, you have effectively generated a list of organisations that employ building surveyors in Belfast. Check their websites for any details about current placement or internship vacancies, or if there aren’t any, look for contact details for careers-related enquiries. If you can’t find anything on the company’s website, go back to LinkedIn and contact LinkedIn members working in companies of interest to you. (For more information about how to set up a great LinkedIn profile and use the platform for effective networking, download our LinkedIn guide.)

Check back tomorrow for part 2 of our FET placement special!