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.
Davids Placement Journey 