Hello again everyone!

Summer is drawing to a close, and with university soon approaching once again, I have recently had to notify the university that I was unsuccessful in my search for a Placement training year.

Throughout second year, I applied to numerous placement year positions, and although I made it to the interview stage of many of them, I have unfortunately not been successful in securing one. Thus, I will be moving straight into third year this year!

Although I wasn’t able to secure a placement, I have learnt a lot throughout the process of searching for one. I’ve been able to improve my CV and my ability to write cover letters. Just the other day, I found the very first version of my CV that I had ever written and I was quite shocked to see how much I have been able to improve it just throughout the course of university thus far. Both the university and my friends and family have been great help when it comes to improving my CV. It’s so interesting to see and to hear what different people would improve on my CV and ultimately it has really helped to make my CV what it is today.

I also feel that I’ve gotten better at interviews. Prior to second year, I had very few interviews and thus when the time came for my first few placement interviews, I was a nervous wreck. I now feel much more confident and comfortable when it comes to interviews, as I have learnt what my strengths and weaknesses are, and I’ve learnt to better communicate them to the interviewer(s). A lot of the time, interviewers will also be willing to provide feedback to you about how your interview went and where you could possibly improve. I strongly suggest that you take them up on these offers, as it will only improve your self awareness and will help you to do better in future interviews.

Although there are a lot of positive things to take away from the whole process of searching for a placement, it is still quite sad when you are unable to obtain one. It comes with some feeling of rejection and I definitely did go through a period where I constantly questioned ‘why am I not good enough for these placements?’ or ‘what am I doing wrong?’. I personally think that it’s normal to go through these feelings and to have these thoughts, especially when you put a lot of effort into an application or when you feel really passionately about the placement. I think the rejection is also an important experience in the grand scheme of trying to find a placement. It helps to build a thicker skin and you start to not take the rejection so personally and at the end of the day, whatever is meant to happen will happen.

One tip that I would highly suggest you do before completing your placement applications is: read the job specifications and the specifications for what kind of an applicant they’re looking for. This will help you to decide whether or not the placement will be the right fit for you and will also help you to decide which of your traits you need to highlight in your application.

So if you’re reading this as a student who is about to start second year, or even if you’re a prospective student who is trying to decide whether or not you should take up the placement year pathway, I would highly suggest that you try to find a placement. If you’re able to find a placement, it is a fantastic opportunity that will only benefit your career path positively. If you’re not able to find one, then you’ll walk away with new skills that you haven’t had before and then you can fully focus all of your energy on the last year of university before you graduate.

That’s all from me this week!

I hope you all enjoy the last little bit of summer before university starts again and goodluck 🙂