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

Sarah Melrose was a fantastic Guest Blogger last year on her placement at Microsoft.  Read her 5 top reasons on why to do a placement….there is no excuse not to do one now!!

5 reasons to do a placement:

”So it’s back to Uni for me, after a fantastically challenging year at Microsoft I’m back to working towards my Microsoft degree. The difference is that I now have a more mature attitude to studying and I am much more focused on getting on and doing things. Firstly, this means I’m much more likely to achieve a 2:1 or more than if I hadn’t completed a placement year.

If that alone doesn’t convince you then the prospect of having a better chance at graduate jobs should help you take the decision to do a placement year. Not only have I got all this fantastic experience on my CV to stand out against my competitors when applying, it really helps when going for interviews. After a placement year you will have so many great examples to give in an interview you’re much more likely to impress the employer and get that job! You will also have a much better idea of what an employer wants from an interview having developed a great interview technique after searching for a placement and learning from mistakes.

Some employers also use their placement scheme as their tool for graduate recruitment, meaning you could go for a graduate interview whilst still on placement and have a graduate job lined up before you even finish, Wouldn’t that be nice in your final year?

Finally, employers are now listing a sandwich placement as part of their essential criteria. Big names like Google, L’Oreal and TUI graduate schemes all prefer candidates with placement experience. So there really isn’t any reason not to do a placement!!”

Tell us what you have learnt on your placement!  Have you any interesting stories to share?  We are also on the look out for new and interesting content for the website so add your comments below