The RateMyPlacement Blog

Hello all,

So last time you were reading my blog it was probably just after I bugged you to ‘like’ it at the bottom so I could stuff my face with a free lunch. Well I’m not going to do that this time…because you’ve already liked it, right? Anyway, standard procedure from me with YouTube clip of the month, Purchase of the month & LAD of the month. If it aint broke don’t fix it and all that…

This months YouTube clip was actually circulated around our office a few weeks ago and had me in tears of laughter. If you ever want to know how not to act when somebody you’re into doesn’t feel the same then check this video out. Crazy girl + her mobile phone + some fantastic New Zealand accents = 7 minutes of comedy gold, enjoy!

Now even though month after month I am scraping the barrel of my poor excuse for a bank account I always manage to find something stupid to spend my money on. This month, although a bit of random purchase, I can still get away with since it is protecting my iPhone, a device I have not had the best luck with in the past (on my third one..). It is my Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES to a lot of nerds (Nick I’m looking at you!), iPhone case. As soon as my housemate showed me a picture of it online I hit the online shopping kingdom that is eBay in search for one. It took me the total of 4 minutes from viewing to purchase and I couldn’t be happier, especially at the measly price of £7.99.

Now we have finally arrived at ‘LAD of the month’. This month’s winner also comes in the form of a YouTube clip that was sent to me today. The guy, referred to as Eddie in the clip seems to be on a date at a basketball game in Washington and gets called down for a half time slam-dunk competition. When it comes to his shot he pulls off the most outrageous front flip and still manages to make the shot, he then dedicates it to his date before returning to the crowd. I think we can all safely say that Eddie got lucky that evening, nicely done sir!

As I’ve mentioned before 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

The tube has to be one of the best and worst things about living in London.  Coming from a rural village in Yorkshire, where buses end around 6PM and the nearest train runs once an hour (if the cables haven’t been stolen that day), a train every 3 minutes is a different level of convenience.  Having said that, it’s surprising how quickly 3 minutes of waiting can go from ‘another level of convenience’ to ‘I can’t believe I have to wait three whole minutes for the next train, now I’m going to be late’.  I think when services are so regular, you subconsciously leave less time for your journey and cut it tighter and tighter, until, inevitably, you are late.  At its worst, the Tube is dirty, crowded, humid, noisy, and generally uncomfortable.  It’s easy to see why people get angry so easily down there.

There are several aspects of the underground that intrigue me, and maybe I’ll talk about them in later posts.  What I thought I’d talk about here, having just watched “The Tube” on BBC2 last night (great documentary, highly recommended), is how to get from A to B as fast as possible.  I’m no expert, having lived in London for a total of 10 weeks, but I have picked up on a few things and I’m a techie so I love a good App.

The first step is to get an Oyster card, set up auto-top up so you never have to use a machine — or god forbid — queue for a ticket desk again, and buy a travelcard (contrary to the name, it’s not a physical card – just something you ‘load up’ onto your Oyster card).  Make sure you plan your route beforehand; after all you wouldn’t want to frustrate the locals and appear to be a tourist. Tube Map can help with that, and it works offline so you can still use it 200ft down.

When you have got your Oyster card and stashed it safely near the outside of your wallet (so you can scan through without taking it out), remember to walk fast and stick the the left of the elevator (what if there is a train waiting in the platform?!).  If you get down and see a train leaving the station, make sure to remember where the doors were so you can stand in position for the next one.  To decide which carriage to get on, Tube Exits is well worth purchasing at just £0.69.  It calculates your journey and tells you which carriage to get on at so you are next to the exit when you arrive at your destination.  Perfect for cutting those valuable seconds out of your journey time.

The Live Map of London Underground is also very interesting.  It uses live data from TfL to estimate where the trains are along the track, so you can time your walk to the station to perfection.

When on the train, if it’s busy it’s often worth trying to move down into the middle of the chairs so you are first in line to sit down if someone stands up.  Having said that, don’t forget to give up a seat to the elderly or less able.  If you are only on the train for a few stops it’s probably not worth fighting for a seat, and you might be better being near the door anyway.

Other than that, it’s just down to luck.  Staying safe is ultimately more important than getting to your destination on time, so I cringe at those who stand mere inches from the edge of the platform just to be first on the train, or jump through the doors as they are closing and proceed to get stuck.  Take care.

Maybe I have taken this ‘efficiency’ thing too seriously, but every 5 minutes extra working at RMP is worth it.  Make sure to like this post, I’m donating 10p/like to our office sport relief fund!

As you all know, tomorrow is St Patrick’s day. Being the only Irish in the RateMyPlacement Office, I feel it is my duty to blog about this special day.

VERY happy St Patrick’s day is on a Saturday this year, meaning I have the entire day to celebrate.

The stereotypical Irish person’s St Patricks day:

1. Wake up early to eat a fry. It’s important that your stomach is lined for the long day ahead.
2. Drink LOTS of Guinness – even if you don’t like it…you will drink it.
3. After drinking a few Guinness, you will be convinced you can Irish dance.
4. Wear as much green as physically possible. If you can pin some shamrocks to your outfit/wear facepaint – the better.

What I’m up to this St Patricks day? All of the above.

St Patricks Day You-Tube Video 2012 – some sneaky Irish dancers in London…If only I could dance like this/ look as good in a morph suit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C9nZrrOlFg

If you enjoyed this blog, then please give it a like/tweet. Free lunch goes to the best blogger in the office. I do enjoy a free lunch!

Happy St Patricks Day…and drink responsibly!

Jamie

Last month the London Careers Group hosted ‘Winning Internships’– an event focusing on the impact internships are having in the workplace, and the legalities surrounding them.

Robin Kennedy, CEO of WEXO, opened the event by identifying the key differences between Work Experience, Internships, and Apprenticeships.  For each position, the criteria differs and therefore determines whether the young person should be paid, and if so, how much they should be paid.  Below is a table which details some of the differences he sees between all three:

Jon Heuvel – Chair of Skills and Employment Forum in the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, spoke about the blur between unpaid work experience and internships.  He elaborated on the “excluded categories” of people in the workplace who are not entitled to National Minimum Wage. These are:

(1) VOLUNTEERS who are working for:

• a charity
• a government organisation
• a social enterprise

(2) STUDENTS ON A SANDWICH DEGREE because they are being ‘trained’ as part of their degree.

(3) APPRENTICES (from Oct 2012 new legislation came in to ensure apprentices are paid at least a minimum wage of £2.60 hour).

According to current legislation, there is no recognised category for interns, and so they are deemed an “excluded” category.  Employers are therefore not legally bound to pay interns, even if they are contributing to the bottom line.  If employers choose not to pay their interns, then interns should be entirely voluntary and should come and go as they please, as well as only doing work shadowing.  Jon said that interns shouldn’t even do any photocopying because that is deemed “productive”!

On the day I found out some interesting statistics, such as the fact that 70% of students do internships, but only 43% are paid (Graduate Prospects, 2012) and that 40% of all interns go on to have full time jobs (The Careers Group & WEXO).

Furthermore, 28% of graduates who left UK universities in 2007 were still unemployed 3 years later (HESA).

Other speakers on the day included Philip Donnelly of Step Enterprise, Julie Price of Dennis Publishing, and Anne Marie of AGCAS.

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

Myself and my colleague went to a very interesting conference the other day that gave us a lot of food for thought about ‘How organisations form their target university list’, and I wanted to gage some thoughts and opinions from the students out there!

It was found that many organisations target specific universities based on the amount of applications they receive from each university, as well as the relationships built with each university career service.

So my first few questions to you are who have you seen on campus and do they seem to feature regularly in on- campus events? If so what also have they done to inspire you? Should more organisations be getting out on campus to come and visit you? Would this make you want to apply more for their roles?

An event that happened at Plymouth University not too long ago sounded fantastic. The event featured four well renowned organisations (can’t name names unfortunately) who put students in a hot seat and gave the students a chance to have a 2 minute test interview! This is definitely for the brave souls out there but what a great way to promote your brand to the student population!

Now that tuition fees have risen as well, it was found that the universities students will now choose to go to will change as students cannot i) simply cannot afford to attend certain universities ii) are confused as to what course to choose to gain them a job in their future iii) whether to go to university locally because it is cheaper and they can live at home.

Currently organisations all seem to be fishing in the same talent pool and are being encouraged to “fish around” – Organisations are being encouraged to be more pro-active and discover what other universities can offer them.

We would love to hear your views on this subject and find out what is going on at your university! Also what do you think organisations new tactic should be to ensure they are hitting the right universities and gaining the best student talent out there!? How should they form their target university list?

Please make sure if you comment to put your ‘Name, Year, Degree as well as your say’

I look forward to hearing from you all!

Getting rejected is a bit of a smack in the face isn’t it. Both in the sense that it is insulting, and hurts a bit like one too (though probably not round the face as an actual smack would). But even though it can really smart, rejection definitely can have the awakening and therefore positive effect that a slap does: yanking you back to reality and making you realise you’ll have to work hard to find a placement. At the beginning of my 2nd year at university, finding a placement seemed like the easiest task in the world. Though now I think, after my very stressful ordeal, it couldn’t be more of the opposite! So hopefully I can give you some pointers on what NOT to do during your placement hunt.

My search and I really did get off on the wrong foot. I spent days… weeks even, applying for placements that I wasn’t suited to at all, because I was more interested in the money I would receive than what I would actually be good at. If you’re not already, be completely sure that your placement is something you would realistically want to pursue a career in, and you’re not doing it just because you like the sound of it. I think this, though it may be quite an unusual problem, is the single most important thing to have decided from day one. There is no harm changing your ideas during your search if you find something you think you would be better at; but I can tell you that absolutely no benefits come from pretending to want to do something you don’t. So getting my first rejection e-mail hit me like a lead balloon. The hardest part of that was the knowing that they hadn’t even read my application that I had spent two weeks on, and that I had been rejected by a computer generated message.

So this is the part that I think most people could resonate with: being rejected when you tried your best. The thing that annoys me most about the situation is that people from left, right and center tell you encouraging things that they think will make the process all better for you; as if it’s some kind of magic medicine to make your feelings of failure all go away! But even if those words come from someone who may have been in the same position as you once upon a time; they’re probably not anymore which really makes you wonder if they actually have any idea at all.

The most difficult thing for me at this stage was to accept that even though some employers may not like me, others potentially would. In my instance, I had to completely re-evaluate what I wanted to do on my placement as my first ideas were obviously not working out for me! Though I think for others who were more sensible than me and knew what they wanted out of their placement from the start, it is important to remember that even though you are applying for a job with 100’s of other students, you will have something that no-one else will have. Whether it’s different experiences, academic results, or even just your personality; you will have something that is unique only to you. Some employers may see this as a negative, some may be indifferent, but some will think that it will make you succeed at their particular job. And unsurprisingly, these employers are the ones who will offer you a chance to prove to them that you’re what they’re looking for. I think that this is such an important thing to remember when doing a placement search.

Having this attitude allows you to stay positive: which will shine through in your application. I think being happy whilst applying for a job definitely can be seen through the words you write, and therefore in the first impression that you give employers. But as I said, in order to do this you need to be happy with the set of skills and achievements that you have. So if you think your CV might need plumping out a bit, try and take part in activities or work experience that you think would jump off the page at your prospective employers; especially if your line of work requires experience that you need more of.

So now I guess readers are wondering how I know this works. Well, even though I may sound like a complete nut job, I have managed to improve my experience and skills and have subsequently got a 2nd interview for a job that I am really enthusiastic about doing. And all I did to get that opportunity was work out for myself that employers will like me for what I am good at, not for what I’m hoping I can one day be.

Viral’s are fun aren’t they, a perfectly good excuse to while away a few minutes in your day. You only have to like it a little bit to post it on your Facebook, Skype it to a workmate or email it to your friends and all of a sudden its been seen the world over. Here at RateMyPlacement.co.uk we are producing our very own viral to (hopefully) spread across the internet and our fair planet. We are in the planning stages right now and currently brainstorming.. got any ideas? we would love to hear them, but in the mean time heres a few of my favourites that have graced the internet in most recent times that are specifically designed for advertising.

http://youtu.be/FKe6nyORbrM – Pepsi Max

http://youtu.be/y0qZYqdsYAg – Budweiser

http://youtu.be/owGykVbfgUE – Old Spice

http://youtu.be/XI_9Yxr0blo – K-Swiss

http://youtu.be/LJP1DphOWPs – Ojai Valley Taxidermy

10 Second Review – The Muppets (IMDB) The Muppets are rounded up to put on a fundraiser to save the Muppet studios. Plenty of cameos from the likes of Jack Black, Dave Grohl and Zach Galifianakis as Hobo Joe. Very funny. 8.9/10

Chronicle (IMDB) 3 friends develop telepathic powers after interacting with a glowing rock. Flight and vulnerability isn’t enough for one of the boys that goes mental (think Akira) and ends up throwing the Police around like rag dolls. 6.2/10

And finally, well done to new recruit Steve Watling that won blogger of the month for his Valentines day survival guide, the ASDA card is particularly special.

So Valentine’s Day is over for another year, and I can almost hear the collective sigh from the guys out there. The trials and tribulations of picking the perfect card, special gift, and stunning day for your loved ones are all things that need to be thought about to make that day extra special for all involved.

However, in some cases the collective ‘tat’ that is available in certain high street stores just doesn’t feel like you’ve made the effort…believe me I used to attempt to sell it online for one of these retailers!

You might be thinking…God this guy is depressing…but given that my work for Valentine’s Day started in November, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, but what I want you to do is give you a What Not to Buy Guide for next Valentine’s Day and beyond, mainly based from things I’ve seen…and regrettably some that I have done!

So let’s start with the Cards

A few things here, firstly don’t be frugal at special occasions like this, is your loved ones not worth a few pounds on a high quality card with a heartfelt message?…if not, why not try this for next year.

Apparently, this card sold out in the Asda store in Dumbarton, not too sure what this says about our society? Would love to see the look on someones face when they open this up!

If you are the type of person who can stretch to more than 7p for a Valentines Card then, congratulations you old romantic!

Maybe a Scribbler card is the type of thing that you’d be looking for, although this is not for the feint-hearted. Make sure your relationship is as solid as a rock before you even consider sending one of these cards, or you could find yourself reading Nat’s blog post on ‘A Singleton’s Guide to Valentine’s Day’ pretty soon!

It takes a brave, or stupid person to purchase one of these, so here’s the one I bought:

and if I’m honest…didn’t get the reaction I was hoping for (I was hoping for laughter and amusement and it evoked more anger and disappointment!) so to make up for it I bought some beautiful roses…which, as you’ll see later didn’t have the desired effect either!

Finally, if you’re a bit of a player but you can’t afford to keep all your many admirers happy then remember to look out for Morrisons next Valentine’s Day, as you never know when their Buy One Get One Free offer will be available again!

Just goes to show that even the big supermarkets can get it a bit wrong! Make sure you don’t make the same mistake 14th February 2013

The all important gift

So, once you’ve nailed that all important card, it’s important not to neglect the importance of your present, whether it be the classic flowers and chocolate or something a little more exotic, there’s a lot to think about. Firstly, avoid the tat!

I spent 18 months selling stuff like this online and it’s a sweet relief to not be surrounded by it everyday, sure there has to be something more sentimental than this…

Although, maybe it could be worse…how about buying flowers a day late and at half price!…Guilty Man right here!

Having felt very bad about the shocking reception the card got, I thought flowers was a safe bet, I’d bought in the flowers, she was loving it, arranged them beautifully and on the sideboard they went in all their glory. Then disaster struck…

The one thing I’d forgotten in what otherwise would have been the perfect crime…the receipt! She spots it, sees the £15 discount, and the illusion is shattered!

All in all a bit of disaster on my part…in case your wondering, she made me a home-made and very tasty heart-shaped cake, shown below, made with TLC:

What did I get her…an offensive card and half price flowers, she’s a lucky lady…in fact maybe I’ll just read Nat’s blog!

Thanks for reading and if you need any advice for not what to buy for Mother’s Day, check back soon!

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!