Thinking about a Placement Year? My experience using the Careers and Placements service

What is the Careers and Placements service, and how can they help?

Careers and Placements is a specialist team within the University of York which provides eligible students with guidance and support with any career related questions or endeavours. They have an on-campus office on West Campus and a dedicated careers platform, known as Handshake, where students can search for internships and book appointments with someone from the team.

Not only do they provide help with applying for internships and work experience, they also provide guidance when writing CVs, cover letters and just overall career planning. They have a dedicated page on the University’s website and can also be contacted by email: careers-placements@york.ac.uk.

I proactively approached the team for support with my placement year applications, and their advice was invaluable in refining my CV and cover letters. I found the process very reassuring to know that someone had had a look over my applications before I submitted them. The feedback I received was always very positive, recognising my strengths within the application before giving me pointers in areas where I could make improvements, which I found incredibly useful.

My experience

At the beginning of my second year studying BSc (Hons) Film and Television Production, I began looking into applying for a placement year. This is something that I had been considering since the start of university and as someone from a low-income background, I knew that I would need all the experience I could get to ensure that I had a job secured for after graduation.

My experience is quite specific for the industry I am looking to get into and for those that are considering going down a similar path into the media industry it is important to consider how saturated the job market is at the moment. The reason I decided to apply for a placement year was because I knew that this was an industry that values experience over qualifications. It’s also an industry you can go into without a degree, and although it has been a life-changing experience for me to attend university, I knew that I would need something extra to make me stand out from my peers.

I began applying for placements in September, utilising Handshake and LinkedIn as my main job sites, and contacted the Careers and Placements service quite soon after this, asking if they could have a look over my CV for me. Through their guidance and after a competitive four-month application process, through four rounds of interview, assessments and an in-person presentation to the hiring team, I successfully secured a placement year at Walt Disney in London as a Post Production Technology Engineering Intern.

Their feedback helped me highlight my technical skills, live broadcasting experience, and ability to adapt quickly in high-pressure environments. I highly recommend getting in touch with the team if you are thinking about doing a placement year. Even if you are confident with your application, it is always extremely useful to have a second pair of eyes look over it for you. A big thank you to my academic supervisor as well, who I pestered with questions when preparing for my presentation!

 Key takeaways

• LinkedIn will be a life-saver: A lot of internships and placements are posted here by hiring managers from different companies. It is very useful to build up your personal brand and to connect with people from companies you would love to work for.
• Utilise the University’s resources: Contact the Careers and Placements service via Handshake or by email to book an appointment. Be sure to also make use of the connections you have within your department, such as your academic supervisor, as they can ensure that your application is specific to your career field.
• Be proactive and apply early: Placements open in September of the academic year, and some are only open for a few weeks or until they receive enough applications. Be sure to apply early, especially at the beginning of the year when you have more time. Ask for help and seek out opportunities.
• Be resilient: The application process is long, and it can be disheartening to receive rejection emails, but persevere and keep in mind what you are learning from this experience and how it will benefit you in the future.

Good luck!