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

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!  

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

Now I know I said I would be doing a blog every two weeks, and that it has been a lot longer than that since my last one. I do hate disappointing my huge fan base, the guys in the office and my mum, so from now on I’ll do my absolute best to keep the blogs flowing.

So let’s get back on track. First up, ‘YouTube Video of The Week’. This week we have a video that has spread like wildfire and is getting coverage from the likes of The Sun and CNN. Flashmobs have been a huge viral sensation for a few years now and this video continues that trend with a romantic twist. Watch the video (with sound) and enjoy… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy8D2mx2EVc

It is also a video that a member of the RMP family can relate to. The lovely young lady who is being proposed to was an ex-girlfriend of RMP co-founder Alastair Lindsay, when questioned on the video this is what he had to say:

“Fair play to the lad, he’s clearly more attractive, imaginative and romantic than me. She had a lucky escape and I wish them all the best.”**

The main difference I can see between Ali and Adam? About 3 Feet!

Now we have my ‘Purchase of The Week’ feature. I have been excited to write about this since it is all I have been playing lately. I went out and bought myself the incredible CD that is ‘The Kinks – The Ultimate Collection’. There isn’t enough I can say about this beautiful collection of music, hit after hit, tune after tune! Whether you haven’t listened to them at all or it has just been a while I urge you to revisit them. After a few days of running through the album and arguing with myself I have decided my favourite song is ‘Stop Your Sobbing’. This, however, was an extremely hard decision and it could have easily been 6 or 7 others.

It’s available from places like Amazon and E-bay for around £3!! Which is just outrageous for such a top piece of work.

Please let me know of any of your favourite ‘Kinks’ songs/gigs/interesting stories as I’m just discovering them myself and would love to hear them!

So Finally, we are brought to the “LAD of The Week” feature, something I’m always on the look out for. This week it goes to a man who time after time just amazes the nation with a look into the far corners of the world and the nature that inhabits it. That’s right, this week’s award goes to NatureLAD, David Attenborough.

His latest BBC series, ‘Frozen Planet’, started a couple of weeks back and it has been an absolutely storming hit (as most of his shows are). Even at the amazing age of 85 he manages to show an enthusiasm towards every living thing, from the micro-bacteria that lives on a snowflake to the breathtakingly intelligent Killer Whales and how they strategically take down their pray. He shows us parts of the world we never knew existed, and most of all does what no teacher in 12 years of school to do…get me interested in science!

The man is a true legend, and with that the big LAD nod of approval goes to him and his team for allowing us to discover things we never knew we could.

Sir David Attenborough….NatureLAD!

So it’s time for me to shut up and for you to get on with some work, cheers for reading. I’ll be back soon.

Adue, Kwa Herini, Auf Wiedersehen and Goodbye!

Tom

**May not be an exact quote

As you can probably tell by now, RMP has jumped on the blogging bandwagon and every other Thursday you will be hearing from myself, I’m one of four placement students here trying their best not to mess up all the hard work that has been put into the company thus far.

Now I could bore you with stories from my life in London, but instead I have decided to bring you some regular features that will hopefully bring a cheeky smile to your face.

Firstly, I will bring you “YouTube video of the week”. My first one, some of you may have seen as it has racked up over 3.5 million hits and it sort of tells you a lot about myself as a person and my sense of humour. (Volume needed)

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

I think what we have learnt here is: Kitten + Tortoise + Chamillionaire = YouTube Hit! I’d like to thank my friend Daniel for introducing this to me and hopefully you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. I’d also love to hear from you guys about your favourite YT vids, so either post them in a comment below or send them over to tom.wilson@ratemyplacement.co.uk and I’ll pick my favourites to blog about.

So next up we have my “Purchase of the Week” feature. Here I will discuss, yes you guessed it, my top purchase from that week and being somewhat of an impulse buyer I’m sure we will see some amusing items. This week my award goes to my Thomas the Tank Engine Toothbrush. I recently visited friends in Sheffield for a 21st and stupidly forgot my toothbrush, so took a trip into Poundland and found this little beauty. After making several appearances over the weekend my friends gave me a challenge to get photo’s of Thomas at various landmarks I visit across the globe and you can see the first one here when he visited Edinburgh Castle.

Features from this item include: Teeth cleaning, suction pad at base that allows it to be stuck to (almost) all surfaces and best of all, if your name is Thomas, it has your name on it!

Next I bring you the “LAD of the Week” feature. Here I will discuss who in the week has really stepped up to the plate and earned the prestigious nod of approval from men across the country.

This week it goes to a guy who literally changed the way we look at the world and certainly how we interact with each other. I am of course giving this week’s award to the late Steve Jobs. After a long battle with cancer, Jobs unfortunately passed away last week leaving the technological world in mourning. Not only did he create technology like their were pieces of art but gave us the opportunity to do things such as play Football Manager on the go, get football score updates by the minute and check out the latest Sweedish page 3 girl on the train without looking like a complete pervert.

A few notable tributes include one from Barack Obama: “Steve was among the greatest of innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

“The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.” 

And on that note I award Steve Jobs the LAD of the Week award. We salute you sir, RIP.

On that note I would like to give you a huge thanks for reading, especially if you made it to this point. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks and feel free to leave comments or questions/tweet the blog to friends/repost on your wall, it’s all appreciated.

Adéu, Kwa herini, Auf Wiedersehen and Goodbye!

Tom

The Marketing team have been busy updating our calendar and can reveal the Campus Tour starts in just over a month. We will be heading up north to the Edinburgh and Glasgow fresher fairs on the 14th September, then you can follow us around the country by checking our Calendar of Events. Make sure you come and say hello as we are all a very friendly bunch

Look forward to meeting you all on the road in a few weeks!

The RateMyPlacement Team

We set up our stand location by the entrance and were very impressed with the turnout.  From the beginning till the end of the fair, we were inundated by students who were eager to find out about internships and placements….obviously they were onto a good thing with RateMyPlacement as we specialise in them!

A big thanks to York for a great day and we will be seeing you again soon…

Whilst 8am trains, and two hour cross country journeys are not the best way to start a day.. both myself and Lizzie hit Leicester yesterday for the Business, Engineering & Technology Fair 2010 with banners, clipboards and leaflets in tow!

Arriving nice and early (by my standards anyway!), we stumbled across the Charles Wilson Building and Sports Hall, and were warmly greeted by members of the Uni of Leicester Employer Services team.

Armed with our name badges, brochures, lunch vouchers and importantly directions to the ‘Refreshments’ area we were guided to our stand before the students arrived for the start of the day.

All in all, it was a great day – the team were very hospitable, the students very keen to find out more information on all things Internship and Placement related and it must be noted the Lunch was particularly impressive. I don’t remember student shops and cafes stocking such delicious food and for so cheap too!

Thanks Leicester for a great day! Till’ next year….

The winners of the regional heats all met for the Kit Kat Challenge Final up at Nestle HQ in York this week and… We have a winner!

The Kit Kat Challenge Final took building Kit Kat towers to the next level, so instead of 20 Kit Kat Chunky’s in 60 seconds, we used 200 Kit Kat Chuky’s and those competing had 5 minutes to build the highest tower possible.

The winner, a student from the University of Manchester managed a massive 110cm!! Here’s a photo of the monster!

So heres the best of the rest..

Happy New Year everyone! Here is to RMP Campus Tour 2010/2011.