In a one off piece, the winner of our ‘Outstanding Contribution by a Student on Work Experience’ Award, Nick Gilbert, gives us his advice on how to make a success of your placement. Click here to read all entries from our bloggers or click here to meet them.

Name: Nick Gilbert Company: PEG S.A. Placement position: Marketing Intern (later Contracts Consultant) Age: 22 University: Aston University

1. Treat your placement as the longest job interview of your life! For me, doing a placement was not just about gaining work experience; it was about really demonstrating to someone over a 12 month period that I was right for their organisation. Because today’s job market is so tough, if you are keen on gaining a graduate position, it is crucial that you seize every opportunity you get to shine in front of potential employers, and what better opportunity than on placement. Whilst you are on placement, although it might not feel like it, everything you do is being analysed. Whether you turn up for work on time, whether your shirt is ironed, how much enthusiasm you have, can you do the job that you are being asked to do and most importantly how well do you fit into the team? On top of this, look for leadership opportunities as these provide an excellent way for you to demonstrate your talent. So, if you are interested in getting ahead, it is really important to throw yourself at everything you are given, and often this will quickly be picked up by your placement organisation and very often your effort will be rewarded.

2. If you are stuck, ask for help well in advance of the deadline. Sometimes, (and particularly at the beginning of your placement) you may be asked to do a job that you don’t fully understand. If this is the case, don’t just nod and say that you understand and then spend a week not knowing what to do. Make sure that if you don’t understand something, you ask about how you might go about solving it, because the worst situation is to ask for help when it’s too late to do the job properly. Typically, I think it can take between two or three months to learn the organisation fully and how it works, and this may create some problems for you in the beginning.

3. Keep your work and home life relatively separate. In a small company, this can be quite difficult, especially as the team has to work harder and smarter and as such the social bonds can be greater. However, make sure that you build yourself a good weekend and evening routine which allows you to relax, get some exercise and also do some shopping. It sounds trivial, but being organised at the weekend is essential if you are to get through the next week. Exercise is crucial, it stimulates your mind and lets you forget about whatever happened during the week, good or bad.

4. Document everything, including your successes and failures: It took me a good few months to realise the value of keeping everything written down. My boss once said to me “It’s not worth the paper that it’s not written on”. Very quickly I began to write everything down, and it becomes useful when something goes wrong or the supplier tries to change the agreement behind your back. Furthermore, because the placement is an environment in which to learn, if you document everything, you can revisit where you went wrong to learn for next time. In addition to this, keep a note of your successes. This allows you to demonstrate areas in which you have made a difference.

5. As my Dad would say, “Just work hard and be the best”.