Is it Christmas already?!! After an incredibly busy and fun filled few months at RateMyPlacement we are all looking forward to a relaxing Christmas break and hope you are too

From all of us at RateMyPlacement hq, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year!

Thanks,

The RateMyPlacement Team

Are you interested in winning £100 worth of Amazon vouchers?

Are you in your 1st or 2nd year of study?

If yes… then complete the following survey consisting of some simple questions about your university and career development and you could be a winner!!

www.ratemyplacement.co.uk/undergradsurvey

The RateMyPlacement team are looking to carry out a UK wide survey into the career aspirations, media habits and influences behind career choices of 1st & 2nd year students. The results will be open to everyone and help recruiters and universities engage with students in the future. All surveys are anonymous, however to be in with a chance of winning the £100 in Amazon vouchers you will need to leave a name and email address.

Thanks!

The legal profession is full of myths and rumours on what is actually involved in a law career.

All About Law is a website which aims to answer those questions!  Whether you are looking for a career in law or just want to find out more, visit All About Law.

The site contains advice and information on the law industry as well as blogs from in-house lawyers and students on law placements.  You can also search for the latest law placements and internships on RateMyPlacement so what are you waiting for!

Any comments to add?  Make sure you add one below or check out our forum and start chatting with fellow students

Thanks,

The RateMyPlacement Team

Throughout the year we will be following the progress of our Guest Bloggers so read on to find out how Aaron has been getting on at Trigger!

“Wow. So it’s been a hell of a few weeks (about 7 since I last posted on here) over at Trigger! I apologise for my lack of updates.  Everyone has been so busy holding large projects together and managing the new ‘better way of working’ for Trigger.  Chris (MD), Luke (OM) and some other employees have decided that the company needs a revamp into the way it works. As well as simply working for the organisation over the past 6 months, I have been involved in trying to improve its processes, the way in which support functions differently and a lot more, towards this change. Everyone at Trigger is definitely sick of the ‘interrupted’ approach to work that is currently present in the studio, everyone has a lot more potential than what is currently being used.

The first main step to a ‘better way of working’ is a structured and responsive support team. A primary first action was to then setup a dedicated support centre with not just one person on support, but a team, this is what is now coming into play. This is one reason why I have not had much time recently to get a post in, because I have been covering Conor who has been on paternity leave, he is back now though, many congratulations to him! As well as covering Conor on support for our clients, I was also requested at the same time to ‘show the ropes’ to someone on a Support Trial, this made for a tough couple of weeks. Things are now settling back down to a level where I can enjoy myself again, as I slowly move back into a developers role for my last 6 months within the company. My development role was pushed back once again when I had to cover support, but before that I spent 3/4 weeks on helping with the development and language management for 4 EURO sites for a large client of ours (FR/DE/BE-FR and BE-NL), these are now live for the people within these countries.

To help me with moving into my development role, David Liewe popped into the studio a couple of weeks ago to see what I have been doing and to analyse my placement. I think the hour went well, he spoke to Kim, one of my placement advisers, she told David exactly what I have been doing and how I have been an asset to the company the time I have been here (something that is very reassuring to hear about).

Now that I am eventually moving into more development work (less support – yes!) I can get stuck into some AS3/Flex, get to grips with some more PHP work and generally move forward, good times! This Monday I have been requested by Chris (MD) to be a support developer for a short while to enable me to get my feet on the ground, after I can move to the development bench. Something to look forward to. I will let you all know how I do soon, hopefully my next update will be in a few weeks and not a few months.

Enough of work, outside of placement has also been a blast. I have been busy seeing Uni friends, popping home and have booked my holiday to Tenerife in May. Next on the agenda is Wales next week, some Christmas shopping, Christmas at home for a few days and then hopefully a big new years!”

You can also find out more from Aaron, as well as our other Guest Bloggers over the coming year!

Feel free to add your thoughts below! Would you like a placement at Trigger?

University is not cheap, especially with the rising fees imposed by the Government. Students are clearly not taking lightly to a charge of up to £9,000 a year in fees, alongside the increased living and maintenance costs associated with going to university.

Students are planning to campaign against the increased tuition fees nationwide TODAY on November 24th.  This is the second wave of student protesting in a bid to reduce the fees.

We would love to hear your thoughts on the protests….what do you think about the rising fees?  Please add your comments below

Here at RateMyPlacement, we believe that a placement or internship is not only a fantastic way to gain some excellent practical employability skills but also help with paying back the hefty student loan you are left with when you graduate.

Make sure you check out the variety of placements, internships and insights available at www.ratemyplacement.co.uk

Good luck

Danny tells us what it’s like spending his 12 month placement at Experian, hear his experiences and see what skills he’s gained during his time.

• Name: Danny Roden
• University: Aston
• Course: BA (Hons) Business and Management
• Placement / Internship Position/Job Title: Year Placement: Project Analyst

What was the application process like?

“The application process was very efficient. I saw the job on the Business School’s intranet, and applied using an online form. Within a week or so I got a phone call back inviting me to do a telephone interview, and immediately after that was a face-to-face interview (4 days after). All in all the process was very quick, and communication was very good, unlike a lot of other placement jobs I’d also applied to.”

What do you do on a daily basis?

“The work I’m doing here is exactly the same as what a graduate would be doing, in this role. Day to day activities include: responding to email queries, chasing suppliers/internal departments to keep our updates cycle on time, as well as doing project work, attending and contributing in various meeting. This has taught me the importance of prioritisation and meeting deadlines as well as given me the skills necessary to do this.

At QAS there’s always opportunities to engage in new projects/activities; at present I’m working on a project which involves creating a schedule of workloads between different departments involved with the updates cycle, and another project that’s looking at giving the graduate section of the careers website a complete overhaul.

Recently we’ve had a National Company Meeting (NCM), where everyone who works for Experian QAS meets up (this time at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium) to learn about what’s going on in different areas of the business and meet lots of new people. This day I found thoroughly enjoyable and mentally engaging as it gave me a real opportunity to see, from a top level, how the company is progressing and evolving, as well as a fair insight into some substantial projects that are going on.”

What did you learn on your placement / Internship?

“I’m only 3 months into my placement year here, and already I feel like I’ve progressed loads. I’ve developed project management skills (prioritisation, time handling, communication etc), general business skills (handling a very busy inbox, dealing with queries, explaining complex things in an understandable manner), and also some technical skills (using new pieces of software, looking into raw data etc). As well as all this I’ve learnt a lot about how a business-to-business (B2B) organisation works as well as a great insight into a market I’ve had very little prior knowledge on.

Overall I feel like each day brings with it a new challenge/problem, which I’m tackling and learning/developing useful and transferable skills from.”

Any top tips for a student interested in a placement / internship here?

“Take hold of any opportunities available, and get involved with loads of projects. Meet loads of people and socialise. I’ve made loads of great contacts through playing squash/badminton, and attending social events, with colleagues who I’d otherwise not have met.”

What are your thoughts? Would you like to work for Experian? Has this helped you with the application process? Comment below!

The deadline for ALL entries and nominations for the National Placement & Internship Awards 2011 is this Friday 19th November!

Have you exceeded expectations and genuinely made a significant impact to your team, department or business as a whole on your placement or internship? Do you fancy winning £250, enhancing your CV and increasing your employability in the future?

If so we want to hear from you!

Friday 19^th November is the deadline for all entries and nominations for the National Placement & Internship Awards 2011 sponsored by Pwc! This is a fantastic opportunity to be recognised and rewarded for your excellent contribution whilst on placement and/or internship!   To enter, download a nomination form from:

www.ratemyplacementawards.co.uk

Student Awards include:

• Best Placement Student (£250 prize) Sponsored by Accenture
• Best Intern (£250 prize) Sponsored by Lloyds TSB
• Best Student Contribution to Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (£250 prize)
• Best University Society(£1000 prize) Sponsored by UBS

With the deadline for all entries and nominations only a few days away, don’t miss out on your chance to win an Award at the National Placement & Internship Awards 2011!  Visit the website below for more details:

There are also three Awards to recognise the outstanding contribution, support and advice which Universities provide to students in their search for work experience.  These include:

• Best University Placement or Careers Service Sponsored by M&S
• The University with a Forward Thinking Attitude to Work-Based Learning
• University Personality of the year

You can nominate for one or all of the Awards available so don’t miss out on your chance to win!

Good luck

If you have any questions about the National Placement & Internship Awards, please feel free to contact:

Lizzie Brock on 0207 824 5249 / lizzie@ratemyplacement.co.uk

BP operates at the frontiers of geography and technology. We want you to experience what we do first hand.

The Ultimate Field Trip 2011 is a team competition. The winners will spend six to eight weeks on a paid internship with our operations in the North Sea. During the internship, you’ll visit an offshore platform, take a trip to the Forties pipeline, go to Edinburgh to see the world-famous Fringe Festival and visit Wytch Farm – the largest known onshore oil field in western Europe.

How to enter

Innovation and efficiency are essential for long-term sustainability. The 2011 competition focuses on our UK North Sea operations. The coming decades will see significant asset restructuring as some 500 platforms and around 13,000 km of pipelines from the North Sea oil and gas industry approach the end of their economic lives. Currently, 450,000 people work in the North Sea energy sector including some of the finest scientists and engineers in the world.

This competition gives you the chance to study the issues facing our North Sea operations and come up with new ideas that will extend the useful life of the oil and gas infrastructure – and potentially the oil and gas fields themselves.

We want you to use your imagination. We’ll be looking for innovative thinking.

To take part, you’ll need to get a team of three people together and register on our website via the button below. We’ll send you an email to confirm what to do next and how to submit your entry.

If you get through the first round, you’ll take part in a regional semi-final. From there, we’ll choose the best teams to go through to the grand final in London – where industry leaders will judge the entries.

Important dates

• Register online: Now
• Initial submissions by: 17 December 2010
• Short-list: 17 January 2011
• Semi finals: February 2011*
• Grand final: April 2011*

For full terms and conditions please refer to our website: bp.com/fieldtrip *Exact dates to be confirmed

Are you up for the challenge? Click the button below to find out more and apply!

View the company profile and find out more!

Friday 19th November is the deadline for ALL nominations and entries for the National Placement & Internship Awards 2011, sponsored by pwc!

Due to be held on the 20th January at Cass Business School, London, the Awards are set to be bigger and better in 2011, celebrating the outstanding achievements contributed by employers, universities and students in work placements and internships in the UK today.

There are 14 Awards on offer so make sure you submit a nomination today and reward those who deserve some recognition for their invaluable contributions in the work place!

With only two weeks to go until the deadline for ALL Award nominations, make sure you check out the website to download an application form at  www.ratemyplacementawards.co.uk/enter

Calling all students!

Do you fancy winning £1000 for your society?

We have a fantastic £1000 prize for the winners of the ‘Best University Society’ Award.  We are looking for the university society that goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to encouraging their members to gain invaluable work experience and employability skills.

There are several other Awards up for grabs including:

• Best Placement Student – win £250! Sponsored by Accenture
• Best Intern – win £250!
• Best University Placement or Careers Service Sponsored by M&S

To find out more on the 14 Awards available and to make a nomination, visit www.ratemyplacementawards.co.uk/enter

Good luck and we look forward to reading all your nominations

The RateMyPlacement Team