RateMyPlacement has again featured in The Times today, as part of an article in the Careers section. We were approached by Times journalist Emily Ford and asked to provide her with some ’amusing’ anecdotes of what not to do when on on a placement or internship.

As you can see from the article, there are some quite amusing stories and hopefully some pretty good pointers of what not to do when on placement! Having said that, three of the stories are from members of the RateMyPlacement team and we turned out alright (apart from Sid).

Here are our ‘amusing’ stories from our placements:

Pass on confidential information. Alastair Lindsay, a founder of RateMyPlacement, an internship feedback website, was at the Bank of England, where a royal visitor, Prince William, was expected. An e-mail went round the bank alerting staff to the Prince’s arrival. Lindsay decided to gloat to friends at other companies about meeting the prince. “Unfortunately I missed the ‘confidential’ tag on the e-mail and it got flagged by the bank’s security system. I was handed an official warning, and probably labelled a threat to national security,” he says. Press ‘Reply All’ without thinking. A former intern at Jansen-Cilag, a pharmaceutical company, says: “A fellow placement student was arranging taxis for the Christmas party and e-mailed round asking for our addresses. I replied saying that I hoped I wouldn’t need a taxi because I planned to go back with her manager, Gary. When my colleagues started sniggering I realised I’d ‘replied all’ to the entire company.”

Assume that your boss shares your sense of humour. Chris Wickson, a fellow founder of RateMyPlacement, recalls: “I was on a placement during the Ashes series of 2006, and a few of us thought it would be funny to get Monty Panesar masks and wear them down to the canteen. A lot of people looked at us with alarm and we realised that to the noncricket fan our light-hearted banter could be taken the wrong way. We were told to take the masks off and given a stern talking to by our bosses.”

Have you got any amusing or embarrassing stories from your placement or internship, or anything you recommend students do not do whilst at work! Why not share your stories on our Forum….

Due to the success of our £1,500 HMV voucher giveaway we have decided to extend it over the summer and we now have a further £1,000 in vouchers to be given out to students throughout the UK!

There’s no catch – leave a review of your experiences on placement or internship, with additional comments, and we will thank you with £5 of HMV vouchers sent directly to your email address. If you want to earn another £5, simply refer 5 friends and when they register you’ll be sent an additional £5 voucher. So far we have sent out over £1,500 of vouchers, which can be spent online at HMV.com on CDs, DVDs, Books, and Games. There is something for everyone. Happy spending…

For more information on our giveaway click here, or submit your review here.

Whilst my colleagues Ali and Oliver have been working full-time on the business for the past few weeks since quitting their graduate jobs, I have been watching on enviously from the office of my own grad job. However, my four week notice is now up, and I am now working a three day week in my graduate job, allowing me to work on RateMyPlacement two days a week!

So today was my first day working from the RateMyPlacement HQ (formerly known as Ali’s spare room) – complete with two desks, a couple of laptops, a TV and pretty old sofa!

And what a day… working from home really is the way forward, especially when it’s your own business too. Time flies when you’re busy, but we still managed a kick-around in the garden and a great lunch (thanks to Ali’s parents for providing the food!).

Over the next few months we’ll be regularly blogging on life working from home so check back to see what we get up to.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could apply for a job and walk into an interview knowing pretty much exactly what the employer was looking for? Well some new research by the University of Hertfordshire has gone some way to achieving just that…

They questionned over 500 employers to clarify what it is that employers are looking for in their graduate intake, plus what it is that puts them off potential recruits:

Top 5 Factors that Employers look for in recruits:

• 46% – Relevant work experience • 43% – Good work ethic • 41% – Degree subject studied • 32% – Ability to be a team player • 30% – Mature attitude

Top 5 Factors which would put off an Employer:

• 77% – Poor spelling and grammar in application • 34% – Obvious exaggerations • 31% – Poorly presented application • 19% – No relevant work experience • 19% – Non-targeted CV/Covering Letter

With 46% of employers ranking relevant work experience as the number one factor they look for in a potential recruit, never before has there been a better time to do a work placement or internship. You’ll acquire that all important experience, be able to provide numerous examples of working in a team, and be able to demonstrate a good work ethic and mature attitude. You only need to read through most of our reviews to see how much your fellow students recommend doing them – so what are you waiting for!