James Caan has mentioned in a recent article in The Telegraph that graduates will face one of the toughest times trying to land a job in their preferred field. Having said this, should we expect grads and students to work for free?!

As the Summer approaches, many of you will be contemplating what to do. Travel, work or generally relax after a hectic year at university?

James Caan states ‘The next few weeks will be crucial for students to make sure they stay one step ahead of the competition. It’s tempting to take the summer off and enjoy a well-earned break after all those exams and dissertations, but now is the time for students to organise work experience and internships to impress their future employer’.

Here at RateMyPlacement, we offer summer internships and placements where you can gain that all important work experience BUT also be paid for it! Win, win situation…

Getting experience will definitely help with securing that dream graduate job…Let us know how you feel about working for free and comment on the blog

Good luck !

Hello 5 people that read my blog. How are we?

The three placement students are feeling rather fragile in the office on this fine Friday afternoon so I thought what better therapy than to express myself through a pre-weekend blog. You will be brought the usual collection of YouTube, my best purchases and ‘LAD of the week’ and as ever I want to hear from you. Abuse, praise…your phone number, I want it all! And for god sake, like the blog at the bottom of the page, I really want the free lunch that comes with blogger of the month!

Since it was ‘Viral Day’ in the office on Wednesday I had a host of videos to choose from for the ‘YouTube Video of the Week’. We saw a mixture of some YT classics and some of those amazing viral ads we all love to see sent round the office from time to time. This week’s award though goes to a video that comes from a series of videos by a bunch of guys that call themselves ‘Epic Meal Time’, and epic they are! These young gents get together once a week for one reason and one reason only, to concoct the biggest and most outrageous meals you have ever seen. These include a 138,000 calorie burger, a bird in a bird in a bird in a bird in a bird in a pig and an 84 egg sandwich. There are recurring jokes throughout the videos that just keep you laughing the whole way through; it’s a classic example of how we love to believe that bigger is better. The video I have decided to choose is one where they make a “Fast Food Lasagne”. It strangely gets me very hungry…

Since my financial situation in these recent months haven’t led me to making many purchases outside of the standard food, travel and booze-fuelled night out I have decided that for this blog my “Purchase of the week” would be something I wish to purchase. As you can see from the picture below this is such a simple product, with such a crucial purpose. Everyone loves a bikky with their hot beverage, but sometimes this desire comes at a cost. For instance, you make two drinks; you need both hands so how do you carry the biscuits? You can’t. You stick them in your pocket, they’re crushed. The person you are making the drink for is furious they can’t enjoy a nice dunk of a biscuit and an unnecessary argument has started. This product solves all this! Some may complain it only holds one biscuit, I think that this is a good thing, everything in moderation

‘LAD of the week’ this week goes to a man who put himself through a week of hell in the name of a good cause. You have probably seen either me or one of the team begging you for sponsorship for our Sport Relief, well this man puts us to shame and goes the extra mile (well actually an extra 290 miles) to raise money for a good cause. He has battled exhaustion, severe aches and pains, sickness and sleep deprivation since setting off last Monday. Bishop has endured a 185-mile cycle, rowed across the English Channel and completed three marathon distances. He has raised £1.6M thus far and despite being a scouser fully deserves a massive salute from LADS across the country, you have done us proud!

Quick shameless plug…If you enjoy this blog then why don’t you see how I micro-blog it up all over Twitter. Search “@ThomasWilson21” and see what I have to say (most of it’s pointless)

It’s been fun, but it’s time for me to shut up and you to get on with some work!

Adue, Kwa Herini, Auf Wiedersehen and Goodbye!

Tom

Being topical, I thought I’d write a blog on fun facts about Valentine’s Day!  If you ever wonder why we spend 1 day a year buying flowers, treating our loved ones to chocolates and bubbly (personally I think that should happen every month?!) then read on find out where it all began.  I’ve also added my own thoughts to give the blog some attitude, if you don’t agree then feel free to COMMENT!

Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day

When did it all start?

There are various theories on the origin of Valentine’s Day, but the most popular dates back to the time of the Roman Empire during the reign of Claudius II, 270 AD. Claudius didn’t want men to marry during wartime because he believed single men made better soldiers. Bishop Valentine went against his wishes and performed secret wedding ceremonies. For this, Valentine was jailed and then executed by order of the Emperor on February 14. While in jail, he wrote a love note to the jailor’s daughter signing it, “From your Valentine.” Sound familiar?  No actually, I’ve never had a letter written to me from a prisoner in jail?!

Flowers

• 73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men, while only 27 percent are women.
• 15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day – wow, is that desperate?!

Roses

• The red rose was the favourite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.
• Red roses are considered the flower of love because the colour red stands for strong romantic feelings – never would have guessed that one…
• Approximately 110 million roses, mostly red, will be sold and delivered within the three-day Valentine’s Day time period – anyone interested in opening a rose shop for 3 days a year?!

Greeting Cards

• Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all Valentines – are you going to let this go guys?!
• Teachers will receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets – teachers, really?!  Think they missed out my school in this survey…

And… More fun facts about Valentine’s Day

• Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Australia, Denmark, United States and Italy.
• The most fantastic gift of love is the Taj Mahal in India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife – Mughal definitely set the standard with this one
• Every Valentine’s Day, the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet – do they know it was a story?!
• About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.
• In the US, 64 percent of men do not make plans in advance for a romantic Valentine’s Day with their sweethearts – typical!  

On Wednesday 18^th January, The National Placement & Internship Awards, sponsored by PwC and supported by AGCAS and AGR, were attended by over 300 representatives from both the corporate and higher education world.

The event kicked off with the unveiling of the results from our recent First-Year Student Survey by our On-Campus Promotions team, followed by an incredibly inspiring and motivational key note speech from Olympian and former World Record Holder Steve Backley.

As a few of you have already requested, please see the industry facts and stats mentioned by Ollie during the Awards Ceremony.

You can also click on the link at the bottom of this post to view the presentation slides from the On-Campus Promotions session, ‘An Insight into Engaging with First-Year Students’.

Thanks,

The RMP Team

Ollie’s Facts & Stats of the Higher Education Industry: 

Where do we see the market heading?

In the UK last year there were 1.8 million full-time undergraduate students in higher education. 477,000 started in September, which interestingly is 5.6% up on last year’s stat. This year, with the increased tuition fees coming in for September 2012, UCAS have already seen 15% reduction in university applicants. How do we see this affecting the market?

Fewer students at universities will hit the institutions, and from reading through the 60+ university nominations across the 3 university categories, it’s overwhelming how much they are investing heavily in their employability agenda quoting figures in the tens and hundreds of millions of pounds. With fees rising so significantly, the return on investment from entering university to coming out of the other end is being increasingly scrutinised by students and parents. Therefore we personally see placements and internships playing a much greater role in academia, encouraged through:

• A rise in accredited work-based learning modules

• Increased resource and provision from the university

• Heightened awareness from students, and at an earlier stage

How are employers changing? The recent recession has taught most businesses to be more effective and justify every pound they spend. Across all our 200 clients, we see the average retention rates from undergraduate schemes to graduates is between 60 – 70%. This outlines how in the long term, attracting and retaining the best talent early can be a more successful and efficient form of recruitment. Anecdotally, we are seeing more and more companies engaging with the best talent earlier through starting and growing placement, internship and insight programmes and that’s reflected in our client base doubling in the past year.

Latest Graduate research from the article below in the Telegraph outlines:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9005585/Graduate-job-competition-hots-up.html

“An extra 50,000 graduates are set to leave university this summer compared with five years ago”

“Employers have already received 19pc more graduate applications for roles compared with last year”

More than half of the recruiters warned graduates with no previous work experience had “little or no chance” of landing a job this year.

Specifically in the investment banking industry, 3 / 4 of investment bank graduate jobs will be taken by candidates who have completed industry placements.

More than a third of new graduate jobs this year will go to students who have already worked for the employer – a record high

In conclusion… All arrows point towards early identification, with placements, internships and insights becoming increasingly important…

-          to students needing to gain work experience before they graduate

-          to universities needing to differentiate themselves through their employability agenda to attract students

-          and to employers looking to recruit the best talent earlier, and most effectively

On-Campus Promotions Presentation Slides:

Please click on the link below to access the slides from the On-Campus Promotions session, ‘An Insight into Engaging with First-Year Students’ hosted by Ali Lindsay and Amber Jones.

An Insight into Engaging with First-Year Students – presentation slides

We are delighted to announce the Winners of the 2012 National Placement & Internship Awards!

The Awards, sponsored by PwC, took place yesterday at City University, London, and were attended by over 350 representatives from both the corporate and higher education world.

The event kicked off with the unveiling of the results from our recent First-Year Student Survey by our On-Campus Promotions team, followed by an incredibly inspiring and motivational key note speech from Olympian and former World Record Holder Steve Backley.

The Awards were then presented by RMP co-founders Oliver Sidwell and Chris Wickson, closing with the announcement of the 2012 ‘Best Placement & Internship Employer’. Congratulations go to Barclays Capital.

For a full overview of the day and to find out which employers, universities and students picked up the prizes, visit our Awards website via the link below.

Check back next week for photos and videos from the day too!

The RMP Team

*Order of Awards presented are as follow:

University Awards:

Best University placement / Careers Service: Brunel University (Highly Commended: University of Dundee). Most Improved Commitment to Employability: University of Birmingham Careers & Employability Centre University Personality of the Year: Jim Wood, Newcastle University (Highly Commended: Graham Kaye-Taylor, Brunel University)

Student Awards:

Best Placement student: Lillian Hiscox, Microsoft Best Intern: Sophie Petrie, HSBC Best Student Contribution to a Small to Medium-sized Enterprise: Michael Daniel McAllister, Buzzlines Travel Best University Society: University of Warwick History Society Best On-Campus Promotions Brand Manager: Amelia Marchant, University of Surrey

Employer Awards:

Best New Provider of Work Experience: Cooper Industries Best Short-term Insight Scheme: Linklaters (Highly Commended: Simmons & Simmons LLP) Best Diversity in Work Experience: Civil Service Fast Stream Best On-campus Marketing Campaign: The Royal Bank of Scotland Group/ThirtyThree (Highly Commended: Ernst & Young/SAS and PwC/ThirtyThree) Best Small or Medium-sized Enterprise: ProspectSoft Distinctive Contribution to Work Experience (Special Judges’ Award): Champions Life Academy Best Medium-sized Employer: SAP Best Placement & internship Employer (Headline Award): Barclays Capital

*Note – the last two Awards were based on student-written reviews from RateMyPlacement who have completed placements and internships

www.rmpawards.co.uk

Thanks to all our sponsors for supporting the National Placement & Internship Awards 2012

Hello! and welcome back to our blog, we’ve been off the radar recently due to the Christmas holidays and our highly successful NPIA’s that were held on the 18th of this month (January), but we are back now and all have more than enough juice to supply you with an eclectic mix of blog related banter, so buckle up and welcome to 2012 with RateMyPlacement.co.uk.

About now is make or break time for all those that wanted to get fit and haven’t done so as they have petered out of steam or lost interest. Much of the time people set unachievable goals which dis-heartens them and they then give up. Below, I’ve put together a couple of brief tips that may help you promote a healthier life style. I want to give your brain a work out too with a few educational app’s and lets not forget to reward our selves in the Leisure section.

Health

Running is the goto exercise to get slim, not necessarily. You can burn calories from lifting weights and that involves no running what so ever! The larger the muscles you use the more energy your body consumes ipso-facto more calories are burned, using a legpress is a great way to expend some calories and better yet, your sitting down!!

Metabolism is key when exercising, as a good metabolism means your body can burn the food that you put in it more efficiently. If you have 3 large meals a deal, your body struggles to process all that it consumes, much in the way a shredder jams if you stick too much paper in it. Don’t skip breakfast, instead, grab some scrambled egg and spinach on a slice of wholemeal toast, this is a really quick meal and gives your bodies furnace a kick start to the day to begin processing food. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water too (2 litres) and get that veg & fruit in side of you, try substituting carbs such as potatoes for more veg like broccoli or carrots. Click here for 8 ways to speed up your metabolism.

Sleep is an often over looked part of being healthy. Its important to get a good nights sleep (8 hours is real good), it gives your body a chance to repair after exercising and your mind to rest so you are less stressed. Those that sleep less tend to consume a lot more food as they need the energy to operate while awake. Try not to use your bed for anything other than sleep & sex, this way you only associate your bed with these two activities. If you watch TV in bed a lot your mind struggles to get to sleep as you begin to associate your bed with other activities that won’t allow you to rest properly – I discovered these facts when I was having trouble sleeping myself.

If you want to set your self goals and monitor your results, NIKE have released the Nike+ FuelBand. It is essentially a device that measures your activity, with the aid of a computer or your smart phone you can connect to the wristband to set your self goals. The band gives you your calories burned, steps taken and the Nike fuel score… oh theres also a watch on it too. Its due to launch in the UK in may and will cost around the £100 mark, if your serious about exercise and logging your results this maybe a good motivator.. not too sure how it works with less cardio based activities though.

Education

Many of us have smart phones and seldom time to educate ourselves but we have plenty of time to play games while sitting on the train into work or at the back of the classroom. Check out these two apps:

Night Sky £0.69 link Allows you to point the app towards the “Night Sky” (also works in the day) and identifies constallations for you, you can also identify planets with your naked eye and go satalite spotting. How is this eduction? I dare people not to be impressed when your busting out constellations and they can barely point out the big dipper.. and “no thats not the north star, it’s Jupiter”.

The Crystal Maze £0.69 link This is an absolute classic. The app itself comes packed full of everyones favourite zones including Aztec, Science and Medieval zones, along with a Richard O’Brian sond pack!!!! There are various games that will test your lateral thinking as well as some basic puzzle solving. All crystals are cashed in at the end of the game for extra time in the Crystal dome!!!

Heres a bonus video of the 90′s classic game show that is a favourite in the office;

Leisure

And finally, my favourite part of the blog, when I suggest movies I’ve seen and/or want to see. Theres been a few movie releases recently that have been massive, one of which being:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 7.3/10 Now I’m a big fan of reading but have never felt compeled to read this series of books. I’m not too sure why, regardless, I was unsure as to what to expect but enjoyed it nonetheless. The main character is interesting and you do jump on her side even though she is insane for what ever reasons. Pretty tense in places and un-funny throughout but I guess its meant to be a thriller. DC is good and refreshing when not playing the smarmy James Bond. 7.3/10

War Horse 6.8/10 Spielberg loves a war time epic and this doesn’t disappoint. Quite a romantic storey of a boy and his horse getting separated during WW1 and re-united over the course of the film, its kind of like Saving Private Ryan meets Black Beauty with an essence of Forest Gump sprinkled on, in the way the main protagonist infiltrates so many stories. Defiantly worth a watch and I’d like to hear from anyone that has seen both the theater production and the movie and how they compare.

Im still itching to watch Goon with Sean William-Scott who I always find hilarious and looking forward to Wes Andersons, Moonrise Kingdom, which if on par with the Life Aquatic is going to be pure gold.

until next time people..

So, I’m not sure if any of you know but its actually Christmas Day on Sunday, shocker, I know. So since it’s so close to the big day, it’s only right I do a Christmassy blog to get us all in the mood…right? WRONG! I’m sure you have had just about enough of what’s the top gift to get this year and the best way to recycle your tree. So I’m going to stick what I know, funny videos, good purchases and LADS!

Let’s kick things off, as always, with the ‘YouTube vid of the Week’. This week, we’re sticking to something short, simple and just god damn hilarious.  We can thank Ollie Sidwell (yes the founder of this fine company) and his weird sense of humour for this fantastic clip, cheers Sid! And the ‘Mother of the Year’ award goes to…….

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne3OMr1_Pxo

Now the award for ‘Purchase of the Week’ award doesn’t actually go to something I personally bought, but acquired through a very generous secret Santa.  As our Christmas social got underway last week we all exchanged gifts and I unwrapped (from my beautiful Metro newspaper wrapping) 3 gifts, the Hollyoaks calendar, a book called ‘The Game’ and a condom (very LADish). The gift I will be talking about is the book ‘The Game’; it’s something I hadn’t heard of before but has apparently created a lot of buzz. It is a real life story about a shy retiring writer, Neil Strauss, (pictured below) who suffers from a lack of charm and confidence when it comes to attracting the opposite sex. He decides enough is enough and wants to change his ways by studying world renowned PUA’s (pick-up artists) and their theories and techniques. Once he had adopted them and takes on the role of his alter ego ‘Style’ his amazing story begins. This story includes using his techniques on Britney Spears, receiving life coaching from Tom Cruise, moving in with Courtney Love and being officially voted ‘World Number One PUA’. I’m only on page 126 and I’m already engrossed and am sure it won’t take me long to finish.

Whilst reading it on the tube the other day a guy, who had read the book, interrupted me to tell me that he loved it and swore by it’s techniques. So a definite book for all the LADS out there!

Which brings us swiftly onto ‘LAD of the week’. This man is a smooth talking, smartly dressed and incredibly talented LAD. Women want him and men want to be him. Love him or hate him, there is no denying this man’s class. Even as I write this I am listening to his wonderfully received Christmas album. I am of course giving this award to Mr. Michael Bublé. Once again he has the whole country swooning over him whilst be bangs out great performance after great performance, with his big band behind him it seems as though nothing can stop this man from turning any song into a classic. There will be LADS out there who disagree with this week’s award but he is talented, loaded, women everywhere will do almost anything to be with him and all without having a six pack…LAD.

As always it’s been a pleasure and it’s time for me to shut up and for you to get back on with some work!

Adue, Kwa Herini, Auf Wiedersehen and Goodbye!

Tom

Loughborough graduate Rebecca Griffiths tells us how she found the inspiration and courage to start her own business and some top tips for those of you who want to do the same! Since this is something we can relate to here at RMP we’re delighted to let her tell you her story. Here’s what she had to say…

For me, graduating from Loughborough University was one of the most daunting experiences. Being released into the real world is something that most students dread. It’s even harder still when after three years of study you still haven’t worked out what you want as a career. This was my dilemma.

I would never have imagined starting a business but today, I am writing this blog post following the launch of my new online fashion store wantherdress.com. The website is a family business and was created with my sister, a graduate of Leeds University.

I had never seen myself working in the fashion industry; I had studied drama so it was a very unlikely move. It soon became clear to me that the fashion industry was the way forward, since all my interests were within it and e-commerce, especially in fashion, is continuing to grow making it one of the most popular ways for customers to shop. Now I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. You don’t have to stick to what you have studied, there are so many opportunities out there and you can adapt your experiences from university to suit the career you love. Charlotte, my sister, knew shortly after graduating that this was her dream career. This made the perfect balance when working together.

The creation of wantherdress.com has taken around five months from the initial idea. Starting a business is extremely difficult, but the most challenging part is having the guts to go for it. We have learnt so much already. As young women and recent graduates, we have found that sometimes it is difficult to be taken seriously by the people we deal with. We have now built more confidence when dealing with suppliers and other partners to ensure that we are receiving the best service from everyone.

The goal for this website is not just to be an online store. As you can see by the name Want Her Dress, it has more of a social context to it. Our eventual aim is for the website to be a social network for girls and women to share their fashion experiences, style tips and photos to encourage others to Want Her Dress.

Tips for students looking to start a business:

• Rather than constantly talking about ideas, take action.
• Don’t be put off by others or talk yourself out of it.
• If you believe you can do it, you’re right. Never give up.
• Never be embarrassed about what you don’t know, never pretend to understand something you don’t, just ask.
• Enjoy it…business should be fun!

Visit our website: www.wantherdress.com. You can also follow Want Her Dress on Facebook: www.facebook.com/wantherdress & Twitter: @WantHerDress for exclusive posts on offers, photos and an insight into the day-to-day workings of the team!

Words by Rebecca Griffiths

Photo by Tomal Price

So it’s been a while since I have blogged!  How is it nearly Christmas?!  Well I thought it’s about time we indulge in some festive cheer so I have found some cracking jokes below…oh and I have posted some lyrics to a song just in case you feel the need to get up and sing your heart out!  As always, ‘Like’ the post and comment if you think you have any better jokes to rival the ones below….

Enjoy Ms Brock’s December blog

Christmas Jokes…

How many ears has Captain Kirk got?

Three: the left ear, the right ear, and the final front ear. Ben Miller

What do lions sing at Christmas? Jungle bells!

When is a boat like a pile of snow? When it’s adrift.

How do snowmen get around? On their icicles.

What does Santa call reindeer that don’t work? Dinner.

What do you call the fear of getting stuck in a chimney? Santaclaustrophobia

Christmas Riddles…

Did you hear about the optometrist who fell into a lens grinder and made a spectacle of himself? Doctors tell us there are over seven million people who are overweight. These, of course, are only round figures. What is the purpose of reindeer? It makes the grass grow, sweetie. There were two ships. One was painted red. One was painted blue. They collided. At last report, the survivors were marooned.

The other day I sent my girlfriend a huge pile of snow. I rang her up and asked, ‘Did you get my drift?’ Where do you find giant snails? On the ends of giant’s fingers. Christmas: The time of year when everyone gets Santamental. What is a webmaster’s favourite hymn? Oh, dot com all ye faithful

The Great Christmas Sandwich Debate!

For the last two weeks, Christmas sandwiches have been the subject of many conversations in the office.  I personally am obsessed with the PRET Christmas sandwich and rate it a whopping 9.5…..

Who has had one?  What rating would you give?  If you think there’s a better one out there then comment below as I will go and buy it!

Finally….a Christmas song to get you in the mood

“Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town”

You better watch out You better not cry You better not pout I’m telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town Santa Claus is coming to town Santa Claus is coming to town

He’s making a list, Checking it twice; Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice. Santa Claus is coming to town Santa Claus is coming to town Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you’re sleeping He knows when you’re awake He knows if you’ve been bad or good So be good for goodness sake

With little tin horns and little toy drums Rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums Santa Claus is coming to town Santa Claus is coming to town Santa Claus is coming to town

Here’s a pic from a recent Christmas social with Chris in a particularly festive jumper

Merry Christmas !

It’s been a busy first few months for us here at TUI! We all now feel very settled in our job roles and are starting to get use to the early mornings!

In the last few months we’ve had a lot going on. In Product, we’ve been putting together and signing off our new brochures for 2012 and early 2013. We’ve also started work on planning the summer 2013 season and the 5 year strategy. Late trading finished selling for summer 2011 and have now moved onto Winter 2011. Early Trading are currently busy putting together information for the turn of year papers, special offers that go out to the national newspapers for January. And finally the placements in Cruise have been looking at new routes and areas for the ships to sail to for summer 2013 and selling the final seats left on the cruise ships for this year.

A few of use have been very lucky and have already gone on resort trips including a cruise around the Canaries, a trip to Majorca and a trip to Mexico. This has been really useful as it has enabled us to see the hotels and areas that we are looking after and really make the most of the product and holidays that we are selling. It has also got to the time of the year that we have all started to think about using the great holiday discounts that we get whilst we are here!

As well as our day to day jobs we have been helping recruit the new placements for next year’s intake. We have all visited a university placement fair somewhere around the country to talk to potential students about the scheme. It’s been a great opportunity to shout about how great our scheme is. We have met some really strong candidates at these fairs and have already carried out one assessment centre.

In November the guys in cruise organised a cake sale, quiz and raffle in the aid of raising money for Children in Need. The main prize was a weekend cruise to Amsterdam. A lot of organising went into this and the whole business got involved – the cakes in particular went down well! They raised a total of £1400, which was a fantastic effort!

We’ve got lots of things to look forward to in December. This includes the Commercial Christmas party, the placement Christmas party and the hanger visits to see our Thomson Airways aircraft undergoing maintenance. It’s going to be a busy month in the office as we all get ready for our busiest time of year in January. We would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and look forward to welcoming some of you at the next assessment centre.