Placement’s Over

Sadly, my placement at the Football Foundation has come to an end. I ended up staying two months longer than anticipated because I enjoyed my time there so much and gained a plethora of valuable experience.

The Placement Team’s ‘Placement Assesment File’, that needs to be completed during your placement year, is a great way of keeping track of all of your achievements over the year and mark all of your key working milestones.

The Placement Assesment File isn’t a daunting piece of work, it is enjoyable to complete and really helps to focus your mind on what you have achieved during your year in industry. I completed mine quite easily and if you keep a log of your achievements as the year progresses, it makes it a lot easier to put finishing touches to your file.

Without a doubt, your placement year will fly by, here are some of my top tips:

• Enjoy it!! – It seems basic but making sure you enjoy and have a good experience is essential to having a successful placement.
• Make the most of it – throw yourself into it. Go to social events with co-workers, talk to new people over lunch, do something out of your comfort zone. It’s worth it.
• Absorb everything – a lot of information won’t be pertinent to your job role but absorb as much information about other teams and areas as much as possible as it’ll give you a better understanding of business which will help in your academic studies.
• Be Positive – don’t be afraid to talk in meetings or present ideas to people. A positive attitude can make a good impression on a potential future employer.
• Be on LinkedIn – you should be on it already but if you’ve not got it, it’s essential to making connections with people you work with over your year. Whether this is in the business or external people you’ve networked with. Great for future jobs!
• Make a good impression – Be approachable. Smile, greet everyone you meet warmly, have a good handshake and be a positive person to be around.
• Be Professional – you may be a student but you’re still an adult. Conduct yourself in a good manner, be professional and represent yourself and MMU in the best way you can.
• Make it count! – Don’t waste your fantastic opportunity just by counting down hours and weeks, dive head first into your placement and grasp every opportunity you have. It’ll be worth it, trust me.

My placement year was by far one of the most rewarding, exciting, and enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had. I was able to do a lot of cool things – like interview former Southampton manager Nigel Adkins (amongst many others!), as seen in the main image – and make a positive difference within an organisation.

I have already received a glowing recommendation on my LinkedIn page from my boss, who also helped me to improve my covering letter and CV significantly in return for doing such a great job.

Whilst that doesn’t seem like an extravagant ‘leaving gift’, it is one that is invaluable to my future career and could make all the difference.

With a year’s experience under your belt, you’re definitely more likely to get a job over someone who hasn’t done a placement year at all. From being a central part of a recruitment process for my replacement, I can tell you that employers value good experience more than anything so a placemtent year is 100% the right thing to do.

Make your degree stand out. Make yourself stand out. Become more employable. Do a placement year.

David out.

P.S. If you want to check out some of the cool stuff I did on my placement, check out my online portfolio here: wakelet.com/@davidhartley21.

P.P.S. If you have any questions or queries about a placement with the Football Foundation, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.

Summer’s over.

It’s been a little while since my last post, ‘An Incredible Six Weeks‘, and all I can say is that the brilliant experience has continued.

I’ve now reached October, four months into my internship at the Football Foundation. The role has developed, expanded and become more comfortable and I’m still loving every minute of it.

In the previous four months, I’ve come to learn so much about how the world of PR & Communications operates, not to mention the behaviour of the media and how they go about their jobs. I’ve continued to work day-to-day running all of the organisations social media channels from Twitter and LinkedIn to personally producing content for their YouTube channel. I’ve been lucky enough to attend a couple of events since my last post, I attended and filmed the openings of both Dion Dublin and Matt Elliott at Wreake Valley Academy and Olympic hero Victoria Pendleton at the Pendleton Sports Centre.  (Both of which can be found here)

   

Both events provided different opportunities and challenges, ranging from filming and interviewing, to managing and dealing with the media on the day. When your job allows you to personally meet and talk to sportspeople it’s difficult not to love what you do! It also expands my knowledge of the industry significantly as it is fascinating to learn how events like this are delivered, whilst managing key stakeholders on the day to ensure all media outlets are catered for.

“For those MMU students which are currently debating going on a placement or not – DO IT. It is worth the time and effort because these experiences that I and so many other students on placement are having, are invaluable to your development and future career.”

Recent months has also allowed me to develop my writing skills and be involved with a number of exciting and wide ranging projects. Writing frequently has certainly enhanced my writing ability from when I first joined the Foundation. I have been involved with projects for the Foundation quarterly magazine, Onside, as well as producing monthly articles for the Shoot! football website. I have also been lucky enough to write bigger articles for ‘fcbusiness’ magazine, a leading sports business magazine that is read by a large number of important people in the industry.

My ‘fcbusiness’ experience has been incredible. I have had the pleasure of helping produce two two-part interviews with Nigel Adkins and another football legend (can’t be named, you’ll have to read it when it comes out!).

Being able to work on projects with such high profile names is not only fascinating but makes work, well, not seem like work at all. Both part one and two of the Nigel Adkins interview have both been published and you can read Part One and Part Two on the links provided.

Picture by Alan Stanford/Stella Pictures Ltd

Furthermore, I’ve been given so many fantastic opportunities to develop myself as a more rounded individual with the Foundation offering in-house training as well as sending me on courses that I want to go on. It truly is a BRILLIANT place to work and learn and I don’t want to leave.

For those MMU students which are currently debating going on a placement or not – DO IT. It is worth the time and effort because these experiences that I and so many other students on placement are having, are invaluable to your development and future career. Get in touch with the Placement Hub, get your 1-2-1 CV session and get yourself out there. I’m already a third of the way through my placement and I have already learnt so much about the ‘real world’ and am passionate to learn more. You won’t regret it!

For anyone who wants to see any or all of my written work so far, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and I want to thank you all for taking the time to read about my journey so far.

 

An incredible six weeks.

Going into my first day of placement at the start of June I was, like most people, apprehensive about what lay ahead in my new role at the Football Foundation. I can safely say that after the first 5 minutes in the office, I felt at home and that this is where I should be working.

Now, six weeks later and I am full of excitement and optimism about what lay ahead in the next 12 months at the Foundation.

I have already been lucky enough to go to a Football Foundation opening within my first two weeks. It was incredible to see the process of how an event like this takes shape from beginning to end and how the world of PR & Communications actually works. I was fortunate to be given free responsibility of ‘Live Tweeting” the event and filming it in which we were joined Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid MP.

I was also pleasantly surprised to the level of responsibility that is given to an intern at the Foundation and how we are made to feel like an equal employee of the organisation, unlike the perception of an ‘intern’ to most.

An example of this was being given free control and reign over all the Foundation’s Social Media channels from the moment I joined and have been entrusted with it since. It has made me feel confident and competent in the role and has given me a sense of achievement having interacted with individuals such as Nigel Adkins, Hayley McQueen, Graeme Le Saux, Kevin Davies and many others. My highlight so far has been getting a retweet from the official verified account for the England national football team who shared my work to its 2.59 million followers!

An exciting first month then culminated in my first written article was published by Shoot! Football Online in our monthly Football Foundation round up which was an incredible experience to have some work published with my name next to it. If you do feel so inclined, I would really appreciated if you followed the link to read it and let me know what you think: Here.

The excitement continues to build as I will soon have my next piece published in a double page spread of ‘fcbusiness’ magazine which I am very excited about.

I have also been given the role of sending out letters to MP’s to notify them of investment into their constituency and then to arrange a subsequent visit from the MP to the organisation if they feel so inclined. A new process to me but one which I enjoy, having to organise a cheque presentation and provide a calling notice and press release for the media, something I had never done before!

Having experienced A LOT within my first six weeks from organising and managing MP’s visits to sites, to Social Media work and even to writing articles for publications. It has been a quick learning process and one which I have relished along the way.

I was fortunate to have a six-week handover period with the previous interns, Harry and Alice, who were superb at helping me settle into the Foundation and the role and I wish them all the best for their final year of studies.

The real work kicks in tomorrow morning where I won’t have them on hand to guide my through it but after such a brilliant first six weeks and everything going so brilliantly I am fresh and eager to continue and I am sure that exciting things lay ahead!

Until next time..

My Induction Day

Over Easter, I visited and had my induction day at The Football Foundation. I was greeted by my boss, Niall Malone (Communications Manager), and my colleague next year who will also be an intern, Michael Boniface.

We had a morning meeting with our boss to outline our thoughts of the day, what we expect and hope to get out of the day and what they hope to show us. We began with a tour of the office, being introduced to individuals, shown the facilities and given a health and safety briefing, the usual pleasantries.

We then got introduced to the two current interns, Harry and Alice, and were given the opportunity to sit one-to-one with them and shadow them for the morning to gain an understanding of their role. Whilst the two intern roles have the same job title, the roles differ and this morning session allowed us to gain an understanding of what the job would entail on a day to day basis.

My role as a Communication Intern would be to monitor the Foundations media presence, reviewing all the mentions of the company in every day press and evaluate the value and type of reception we get, whether it is positive or negative press. On top of this, I will manage and expand the charities social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc). This is a part of the job I am very excited about, using social media in every day life makes me very adept to it and I’m excited to take it on and make it my own.

On top of this I will also be in charge of providing monthly articles for FC Business Magazine and Shoot Magazine’s website. I have experience in writing football articles so this is an area I am looking forward to developing my skills in.

Lastly, I will also help on the day of events with filming, the social media content and organisation of the day.

After the morning, we went out for a Comms Team lunch which gave me a great chance to get to know my colleague and two bosses on a personal level and establish a relationship which will make my first day a lot easier.

The afternoon was laid back and I performed several tasks they needed doing which made their work load easier which I enjoyed and we got sent home when the team left at 5pm.

The induction day was brilliant and made me extremely excited to get started. Now time to focus on the rest of the academical year and smash my exams!

Applications & Interviews

I have been through many applications, as I’m sure you have, for part time jobs and applying for placements. The key to succeeding in applications is highlighting your strengths and what makes you perfect for the role that is on offer.

My experience was sending off my CV, Covering Letter and an application form that required answers to certain questions in relation to the role. The application form allows the employer to ‘test’ you in a way to see if you have the necessary understandings of a situation and to find out a bit more about you.

Use the application to showcase yourself, reflect your key qualities from your CV and Letter into your answers to hit home how well you fit in the role. Employers will use your application to separate people who aren’t suitable relatively early so making sure your applications as a whole reflect yourselves in the best possible light is the key to getting yourself an interview.

If successful in this early stage, an interview(s) may follow suit. Video & Telephone interviews are being increasingly used however my interview was a traditional face-to-face so I do not have much experience in this area. However, there is plenty of advice and help online with the two lesser used methods.

My interview was a panel interview lasting 30 minutes with 3 individuals that work in the company who asked me a wide variety of questions about myself, my experiences and my suitability for the job. I’ve had plenty of interviews in my life and these are my key pieces of advice:

• Firm handshake and polite greeting
• Always research on the interviewer(s) to gain some background knowledge
• Research the company and their recent news to be able to talk about it
• Relate EVERYTHING back to your experiences and how they apply to the role
• Give good positive examples at all opportunities
• Have open, positive body language
• Engage, eye contact and look interested – Don’t be a bore!

I got lucky in that my first interview led to a successful application however, if you don’t succeed on the first attempt, use the opportunity to gain feedback from the interviewer and learn from it. Perseverance and learning from your mistakes will pay off in the end.

CV’s and Covering Letters

Like mentioned in the previous blog post, CV’s are vital to your application as you will already know. However, the majority, if not all, of employers will ask for a covering letter to support your CV and application and this is just as important.

If you do not know what a covering letter is, it is a letter of application to the employer. It usually includes addresses and dates like a normal letter would, however you must use the platform to introduce yourself, explain your purpose in applying, highlight your skills and experience that are relevant to the job description!

Whilst available online, I will list just a few key points that I have collated through my experience as the main Do’s and Don’ts of both.

CVs

Do’s 

• Construct and tailor your CV with your employer in mind
• Tailor your CV to the job you want
• Make it clear, neat and tidy
• Include all relevant skills/experiences
• Include all dates in reverse chronological order (most recent first)
• Be positive in every aspect – turn every experience into a positive one and explain how what you’ve learnt will benefit you

Don’ts

• Include any information which is negative reflection of yourself
• Include monetary/salary expectations
• Make your CV more than 2 pages (employers will want a short summary and not pages of writing)
• Use jargon, acronyms, technical terms
• LIE

 

Covering Letters

Do’s

• If possible, address to a named individual
• Send a specified letter (with relevant experiences) for each individual job
• Make sure information matches what the job description is looking for
• Limit to 1 page, do not exceed.
• Tell employer how you can meet their needs
• Use simple sentences, don’t waffle

Don’ts

• Rehash your CV – use the letter to highlight the parts that are most specific to the job
• Make sure spelling and grammar is up to scratch – double check!
• Be boring!
• Be Negative

 

Whilst all self explanatory, making sure that your CV and Covering Letters are good enough is essential to you finding a placement and I personally found the placement team extremely helpful for these issues and I couldn’t recommend making the most of their services.

There is plenty of templates, advice and help online for both of these so do your research. Just make sure more than anything else that every single piece of information links back and demonstrates how you’re good for the job.

Where to begin?

From the outset, the key to finding a good placement is having a high quality CV. From the moment you begin 2nd year and placements are brought up in lectures, visit the Student Hub and book yourself a 1-2-1 session with one of the staff at the placement team. These people are trained in this area and can sit down with you and continuously improve your CV and enhance it to a level that is far greater than what you will already have.

It is the CV and how it is presented to the employer is what will set you apart from the many CV’s they will receive when they are looking for a suitable candidate. This is a vital part of the process and getting it done as soon as possible will put you ahead of others and allow you to apply for placements sooner, giving yourself a better chance in finding one.

‘Lets Get YOU Hired’

 

Furthermore, begin to look at websites of companies you’re interested in working for as not all companies will be on the MMU system so trawling the web to find out if placements  are offered will give you a good idea. More national companies may only advertise online through their site so don’t expect things to fall at your feet: RESEARCH! 

Also, setting up yourself a LinkedIn page if you haven’t already is a great way of researching companies, showing pro-activeness and connecting with potential employers and people you might want to work with. I personally used LinkedIn a lot to connect with individuals in companies and reached out to them directly to see what availabilities are out there. You never know what could be out there if you don’t put yourself forward.

Getting ahead and making a positive start in these areas as early as possible will already put you in good stead. Putting the work in as soon as possible will make life easier when applications need to be done.

Welcome!

By now, you would have somehow stumbled upon this blog, whether you’re an MMU Student who has been directed here or unluckily found yourself here through sheer boredom. I welcome you to my blog page that I will use to outline my experiences in securing a placement which I hope you can benefit.

If you haven’t read my ‘About‘ page, my name is David Hartley and I’m a Sports Management student at Manchester Metropolitan University. I have recently secured a placement year in industry working as a Communications Intern for The Football Foundation.

I have now been through many applications in this placement process and I hope to share my experiences in the process and during my placement year that I hope you can benefit and learn from.

I have never written something like this before so bare with me but I will do my best to provide sufficient detail to help you your search for a placement. If you have any questions or want to talk to me directly then feel free to comment or get my details off Catherine (if she’s your tutor).