‘I can’t quite believe how far I’ve come – I think I’ve finally found my career choice’: what makes

a good placement?

Dr Tina Byrom; Dr David Hindley; Steve Wheelhouse; James Lake; Ian Wakefield; Marco Bardino; Rebecca Parkin; Arjun Chawda; Rebecca Dyer; Rebecca Walton; Will Crossley; Sophie Spencer; Chris Kay; Kirstie Woolley; Jaisal Patel; Sinead O’Grady; Cyndy

Hawkins; Pauline Smith

Definitions

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Placements now take many different forms and the term itself can be somewhat misleading … whilst many

institutions facilitate the contact of students and employers, to a greater or lesser extent most take the view that it is the student’s own responsibility to locate and secure employment, as it provides good experience

for after university (Herbert and Rothwell, 2005:16).  

Within universities, work placements frequently take two forms: either learning for work, common in professional courses, or learning through work, associated with experiential learning (Hardwick,

2012:3).

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Embedding Placement/s

BA (Hons) Business and Educational Development (NX13)

BA (Hons) Psychology and Educational Development (CX83)

BA (Hons) Psychology, Business and Education (CX8H)

BA (Hons) Psychology and Special & Inclusive Education (XC38)

BA (Hons) Special and Inclusive Education and Educational Development (X391)

BA (Hons) Sport & Leisure, Psychology and Education (XC3V)

BA (Hons) Sport & Leisure and Educational Development (CX63)

BA (Hons) Sport & Leisure and Special & Inclusive Education (CX6H)

BA (Hons) Sport & Leisure, Business and Education (X392)

BA (Hons) Early Years, Psychology and Education (CX8J)

BA (Hons) Early Years and Educational Development (XX23)

BA (Hons) Early Years and Special & Inclusive Education (XX21)

BA Early Years, Business and Education (XN31)

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Academic Perspective

1. Demonstrate evidence of the ability to compare personal experiences and beliefs about the work of the host organisation with those derived from theory and from evidence gathered at and from the organisation.

2. Exercise appropriate judgement in negotiating, planning, carrying out and evaluating a small scale investigation.

3. Research, analyse and evaluate a range of information.

4. Communicate effectively through reflection and written investigation.

Current Structure

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Generic study skills plus specialism

Placement

Research project

Growing Emphasis on Work Based Learning

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Work-based learning has become an increasingly salient feature of the higher

education landscape in recent years (Dalrymple, Kemp and Smith, 2012:1).

 

Placements are recognised for their impact on learning and employability by a range of

stakeholders, including industry, government, universities and students (Sophie, Sturre, Von

Treuer and Feenstra, 2010:222).

Alignment with Higher Education Courses

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With the increasing prevalence of WBL programmes in higher education, there is a

demonstrable need to evolve new pedagogic models to support facilitators and participants in

conceptualising and developing practice (Dalrymple, Kemp and Smith, 2012:3).

Post Revalidation Structure

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Year 1

Year 3

Year 2

Subject Strand 1 Subject Strand 2 Core

2 20 credit modules OR1 40 credit module

2 20 credit modules OR1 40 credit module

1 40 credit module(Specialisms – accreditation and/or employability skills)

Subject Strand 1 Subject Strand 2 Core

2 20 credit modules 1 20 credit module (Optional)

2 20 credit modules 1 20 credit module (Optional)

1 20 credit module(6 week placement)

Subject Strand 1 Subject Strand 2 Core

2 20 credit modulesOR1 40 credit module

2 20 credit modulesOR1 40 credit module

1 40 credit module(capstone project)OR(placement)

Benefits of a placement

Marco Bardino – Talent Acquisition Manager

Why do a placement?

Develop commercial awareness Build your profile Demonstrate skills Earn money Apply your learning Try before you buy

Benefits of doing a placement with Enterprise

Hands on practical experience

Development of employability skills

Management Trainee/Placement salary

Part-time employment during final year of university

Job offer onto the Graduate Scheme when you finish

Fast – track to management level!!

What is a management trainee?Entry-level position with a career path. Promotion 100% from withinLearning all aspects of running a business

*sales*customer service*management*finance*human resources*marketing*administration*fleet management/logistics

Be creative–implement your ideas–BE YOURSELF!

Career PathHow Fast You Progress Is Truly Up to You!

General Manager/

Vice President

Regional Vice President

Regional Rental Manager

Area Manager

Branch Manager

Assistant Manager

Management Assistant

Management Trainee

Any Questions?

To Apply online or find out more information, please visit our website: www.enterprisealive.co.uk Marco Bardino Regional Talent Acquisition Manager Enterprise Rent-A-Car East Midlands/South Yorkshire Region0115 921 8944 Direct Line

Marco.bardino@erac.com

Student Perspectives

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PURPOSE OF PLACEMENT

BEFORE PLACEMENT:

PLANNING FOR PLACEMENT

DURING PLACEMENT:EXPERIENCE

AFTER PLACEMENT: WHAT WAS ACHIEVED?

Student Experiences: Process

I contacted a local school and was able to arrange an interview

Placement was arranged easy at my local secondary school in their Special Ed department. Doing it early is the key - it removes the stress

Very stressful - bit more guidance could have been offered as it was totally left up to us. But organisations found to be relatively helpful when they eventually replied to emails and phone calls

I wrote a letter to the organisations then followed it up with a visit to ask if I could arrange a placement at the one I wanted to visit

It was hard as I wanted to do it in a school and most of them already had people and didn't want to take any more students

Pretty much just emailed as many sport delivering institutions that I knew of, e.g. Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Cosmo Soccer Academy. Also would have liked to do my placement within my secondary school but they said I should look for experiences elsewhere. Would have loved to do a placement with the Police force but at the time because of the craziness of the recession and job losses, they couldn't promise any meaningful work.

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Student Experiences: Experience The placement actually made me decide what age level I want to teach as I

am going on to a PGCE next year. I gained a lot of confidence and skills working with others in a team

I gained a insight to a different life style which I had very little knowledge about and it made me gain a lot of respect for the people I worked with. It made me realise I want to help individuals in later life rather than working with children

100% that was not where I wanted to work and it was clear that working at a preschool/nursery was definitely not for me

Everything. Had no idea what I wanted to be when I finished uni but now I have a clearer idea and the placement has really pushed me to develop as many skills as possible and is facilitating my learning of becoming a football coach. Helping get experience and making it really easy! Encouraged me to do the coaching course which I am now doing

A sense that I will be OK in the wider world. Project management skills

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Student Experiences: Gains Yes, as it has helped me to decide what i would like to do in the future as a

career

Yes as it highlighted the other things you don’t think about when looking for future careers - actually doing the job gives you insight

Yes because it made me decide what I wanted to do in the future. It also allowed me to generate skills that I can develop at university

I think it has helped me in a future career but maybe not with my degree.

Yes, the experience was important to my development as it has given me a good step on the right path to progress further in my intended career plans

Definitely because I know now that I do not want to work in this environment with staff or children this young

Yes. Without this experience, I wouldn't have been in the position I am in, where I am ready to apply for PGCEs and post graduate teaching courses

I feel that my placement has helped me work out what jobs I don't want to do after my degree, and also think that it has helped me show confidence

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Alternative Final Year Projects

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Competency Based Assessment?

Working with Others Delivering Results Focusing on the Future

Team working Making informed decisions

Entrepreneurial and commercial focus

Customer focus Organisation and delivery

Creativity and innovation

Communicating and influencing

Adaptability Leading and coaching

Possible Recommendations

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Utilise an Assessment Centre (AC) methodology as a

developmental tool within the placement

Measure and subsequently enhance professional competencies

in a sample of PG students

Competencies were determined through job analysis and

competency modelling (e.g. written and oral communication;

problem solving and analysis; planning and organising)

AC exercises included: in-tray prioritising; presentation role-play;

written report; leaderless group discussion

Students prepare development plans relating to the

competencies identified as requiring development

Assessing Competencies?

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Assessing Competencies?

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Assessing Competencies?

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Assessing Competencies?

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Assessing Competencies?

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Assessing Competencies?

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Assessing Competencies?

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Assessing Competencies?

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Assessing Competencies?

Issues Relating to Placement and Support

Key questions – develop ideas, identify barriers and strategies to over come these barriers

How best to support students whilst on placement?

Thinking about alternatives (and alternative assessment) to placement

Issues around growing competition to secure suitable placements

How to best support students that have a positive-negative placement experience?

References

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Dalrymple, R; Kemp, C and Smith, P (2012) Characterising work-based learning as a triadic learning endeavour, Journal of Further and Higher Education, pp.1-15.  Hardwick, L (2012) The place of community-based learning in Higher Education: a case study of Interchange,  Journal of Further and Higher Education, pp1-18.  Herbert, I and Rothwell, A (2005) Managing your placement: a skills-based approach, Basingstoke: Palgrave. Sophie, K; Sturre, V; Von Treuer, K and Feenstra, F (2010) Evaluation of the use of Assessment Centre methodology to enhance development planning, work placement outcomes and work readiness for postgraduate students – a pilot, ACEN 2010: Proceedings of the 3rd Biannual Australian Collaborative Education Network National Conference, Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN).