Why a placement year

1
Why a placement year?

• Historical we have always done this
• Strong tie with Aston employment success
• USP placement distinguishes us for recruitment,
  4 yr degree has best conversion rate in
  University
• Student employability
• Graduates can compete for the very best openings
• Professional entry

2
Why study at university?

• Career opportunities is the most commonly given
  reason
• Graduates get the pick of most of the more
  interesting, glamorous and exciting careers
• Graduates earn more get promoted more
• But only if you make the most of your
  opportunities
• A placement year can help you get a head start in
  your chosen career

3
Aston, employment employability

• Aston is regularly shown to be the leading UK
  University for graduate employment.
• We are a member of the Targeted GRAD careers
  consortium that links premier employers with
  students from the 22 most targeted universities
  in the UK and Ireland.
• So our students are highly employable and amongst
  the most sought after in the UK.

4
Daily Telegraph, July 2002

• Graduates from places like Imperial
  College, Edinburgh and Aston can now do just as
  well if not better, than those from Oxford and
  Cambridge

5
AGR Graduate Recruitment Survey 2003

• The majority of undergraduates who take part in
  successful work experience placements with AGR
  employers can expect preferential treatment in
  graduate recruitment.
• 1/3 of AGR employers would offer candidates a
  full-time graduate job on the basis of a
  successful placement.

6
The Sandwich Year

• An option to take a
• psychology or related
• professional placement
• Clinical placements usually
• unpaid, others paid in the 8 - 15k range
• You choose and apply for your own placement
• A key to Aston students employment success.

7
Who can take a placement?

• Any of you, HP or CH can take a placement
  anyone can take a psychology placement except CH
  language students
• You can switch from the 3 year to the 4 year
  programme and vice versa see the psychology
  office
• HP and CH students may also register with the ABS
  placement office to take a business placement

8
Why you should take a placement year?

• improves your employment prospects
• complete dry run for starting your career
• try a career before you commit to it
• pay helps and over two tax years
• unpaid clinical placements speed up career
  progression
• academic development - placement students get
  better degree grades

9
How does a placement improve employment prospects?

• experience of application interview process -
  you know what to expect
• hands-on experience at graduate level - you know
  what your talking about
• contacts, specialist knowledge, references
• maturity, confidence sophistication
• less of a risk for an employer, proven track
  record, fully effective sooner
• you are first in the queue for the very best jobs
  and your first job may set your career pattern

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Why you should not take a placement year?

• You want to graduate sooner rather than later
• You already have good work experience
• You dont feel ready to start work yet
• A placement year is not a default option, take a
  placement if you are clear that it is the right
  thing for you to do.
• An alternative is to take shorter (3 month)
  summer placements see careers service

12
What counts as suitable employment for a
placement?

• You must have your placement approved by the
  psychology office
• Need not be specifically psychological
• Must be appropriate work for someone approaching
  graduationbut
• You can expect to start at the bottom
• Its up to you to show that you are capable of
  more demanding work

13
What can I do on placement? - some employers

• Arthur Anderson
• Aston Villa FC
• Birmingham Childrens Hospital
• British Energy Generation
• Corus Strip Products
• Defence Evaluation Research Agency (DERA)

• Deloitte and Touche
• Ford Motor Company
• Harrods
• Hewlett Packard
• HM Prison Service
• Home Office
• Marks and Spencer

14
Some more placement employers

• Metropolitan Police research and evaluation unit
• MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
• North Birmingham Mental Health Trust
• Rampton Special Hospital
• Reading Scientific Services
• St Georges Hospital Medical School
• Unilever Research

15
Finding a placement

• There are more placements than students!
• Act quickly for the most sought after paid
  placements
• You can generate your own placement
• Once registered with us (and ABS) you have access
  to all the latest vacancies
• Advice and support from the psychology office and
  from the careers service

16

• Arrange your own placement
• Kate (2nd from back with balloons for the family
  enclosure) arranged a placement herself in
  marketing with Aston Villa.

17
Psychologists in the job market

• For general overview see recent article in The
  Guardian
• http//education.guardian.co.uk/students/story/0,
  9860,648611,00.html
• For professional careers see BPS website
• www.bps.org.uk/careers/careers.cfm

18
Professional Psychology accredited by the BPS

• Clinical Psychology
• Occupational Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Forensic Psychology
• Health Psychology
• Counselling Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Teaching and research in Psychology

19
Placements outside professional psychology

• Very wide range of opportunities in the public
  and private sectors with an emphasis on people
  and communication.
• Psychology graduates have a wide range of skills
  and capabilities, it is a scientific, a numerate
  and a literate discipline.
• Most employers do not specify degree subject.

20
Things to consider

• The interests and aptitudes you have or have
  identified using the careers service
• Location
• Pay, costs, travel
• Parental support
• Summer placement alternatives

21
We expect you to

• Attend interviews or withdraw courteously in
  good time
• Work a minimum of 30 full weeks
• Be punctual, reliable, organised
• Be proactive and show initiative
• Be professional and uphold the good name of the
  University, its students and its graduates

22
Placement Poster Presentation

• Thursday 30th Oct, 1100-200, Great Hall.
• Last years placement students will be
• present at the psychology placement fair.
• Read the posters, meet the students,
• find an organisation to apply to.

23
Careers Seminars

•                      
• Scheduled on the dates below in MB518 from
  100-300. Details to follow on notice boards
• 5th Nov                                      
• 12th Nov                                    
• 19th Nov                           
• 26th Nov                              
• 3rd Dec                              
• 10th Dec

24
Placement assessment

• NB Placement assessment does not count towards
  your degree grade
• 1. Log Book (40 weighting) to show your
  awareness of your own learning during the year
• 2. Placement Report (20 weighting) A brief
  report for future students
• 3. Poster (40 weighting) about the organisation,
  your work what you learned, why you would or
  would not recommend the placement in future, who
  to contact, when to apply etc.
• 4. Supervisors appraisal

25
Placement assessment 2

• Grades for log, poster and report
• Distinction, Merit, Pass, Fail, No work
• 75 / 65 / 50 / 35 / zero
• Pass / fail employers appraisal
• Present poster at autumn placement fair
• Log, poster, report but no research report or
  essay

26
If things go wrong

• Contact your placement tutor and your supervisor
  (usually your line manager)
• Quite a few students decide that the placement is
  not right for them as a career but still feel
  that they have benefited from the experience
• It may be possible to change placement
• Failing your placement year will not mean failing
  your degree

27
What to do next

• Attend Liz McFarlins sessions on preparing a CV
  and preparing for interviews.
• Understand your interests and aptitudes
• Attend the placement poster presentation and talk
  to final year students about their placement
  experiences
• Register with Sarah Taroni (and ABS)
• Begin applying

28
Placement year problems

• Supervision support how best to manage our
  relationship with our students on placement
• Fees students resent paying half fees
• Unpaid placements sit poorly with equal
  opportunities and widening participation
• Does entry into clinical psychology now require
  unpaid work?
• Relationship to academic programme and aims of
  degree

29
Solutions?

• More contact and Aston initiated events
• Specialist as single point of contact to visit /
  email / phone / web site / problem solve
• Certification of placement or other
  distinguishing feature
• Press for payment of fees and expenses on
  clinical placements with employers and BPS
• Integration across university?
• Tie in aims with employability and assessment