Placement Resources and Information

Advertised Roles: The University’s Career Connect features hundreds of vacancies across various sectors and is an excellent starting point.
Consider these additional portals: Bright Network, Rate my Placement, Targetjobs, Gradcracker, Prospects, The Interna

Beyond Job Searching Platforms
Employer Events
Direct Employer Contact
LinkedIn
Your Networks (your friends, family, staff in your department, and those within your social media networks can often connect you to potential opportunities and may be able to put you in touch with placement providers.)
Case Studies Database
Exploring past student placements can indicate where opportunities exist and which employers to approach.
Our placements case studies database provides valuable insights into the types of work undertaken and organisations joined.

Where to Find International Placement/Work Experience

Please see below for some international companies, who may offer international work experience:

Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) - Planning, cities, Urban Design
NUS (National University of Singapore) - Policy, Social science research, Water Management
Disaster Analytic Lab at NTU - Climate change, post disaster recovery
ETH Zurich Singapore - Cities, Urban Design, climate change and nature
Urban Redevelopment Authority Singapore - Urban Design, Planning
Stockholm Environment Institute Asia - Cities, climate change, built environment, Planning.

Sourcing Placements and What to Expect

Placements are self-sourced by students with support from their department and the Careers and Employability Service.
Thoroughly research any company you are applying to.
Remember to plan the type of work experience you need. Think about what kind of skills you want to gain from it, and which particular areas of the industry you need to focus on. Think about what kind of skills you want to gain from it, and which particular areas of the industry you need to focus on.
Don’t undersell yourself, clearly state your skills and attributes in your CV and your interview (use your Employability Skill Badges to help).
Make the most of your vacations, as they are a great opportunity to gain experience.
Make use of all your contacts and try to create potential for some interesting projects through speculative approaches.

Year Long Placements

Can take place between Level 2 and Level 3 for BA students, or between Level 2 and Level 3 or Level 3 and Level 4 for MPlan students.
Adds a year onto your degree
These can take place in any sector or industry - must be an appropriate level
Example organisation are Transport for London, Wokingham Borough Council, BeFirst, RSK, Pegasus and St Ledger Homes, ET Planning, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Mace
Short video here from previous placement year students, Ruby and Maisie
Find out more about placement years from the Cornerstone in The Wave - they will be holding information sessions about this
Must tell the PEER team if you secure one of these opportunities

Internships

Often take place over Easter and summer
They are mostly paid and are with large organisations. You become involved in day to day work activities.
These differ in how long you spend at the company and they are a competitive process to get into.
Example organisations are Deloitte, CBRE and Savills

Work shadowing/placements

Observing someone doing a particular role and asking them questions to get to know the role. Getting involved in light activities. Usually unpaid and can range from a day to a few weeks.
Useful for people who want to check out different careers before they commit to them. It is good to use LinkedIn to contact people about these opportunities.

Careers Service Information

This 'Placements and Internships Hub' provides information and guidance to help students:

Understand the difference between a placement or internship.
Know their options for undertaking a placement or an internship.
Know where to look if they are seeking a placement or internship.
Find out about placements/internships undertaken by students in the past.

Managing Your Expectations - Short Term Work Experience

Your studies must come first. Full time placements are a possibility during vacation periods, but full time placements must not take place during teaching time. Part time placements during teaching time are permitted, but the University recommends that students on full-time courses work no more than 16 hours per week during term time - and you must prioritise your studies/teaching. It’s not an exceptional circumstance to allow you to apply for extensions.
You need to be proactive in finding your own opportunities - don't just rely on the newsletter or adverts you see.
You won't necessarily get paid for all work experience - don’t commit to unpaid work experience if you can’t financially support this.
Any unpaid opportunities should be short term e.g. 1 or 2 weeks.
Location (be realistic!) - how you are getting there, can you stay with friends and family? Costs involved?
Being flexible with placement timing due to employers workload and timing in the year - undertaking work experience part time around your studies is an option if local
Only engage in the placement process if you are fully committed to completing this. If you fail to complete a placement that you or we have organised this is damaging to yours and the department reputation.
It is your responsibility to liaise with the company directly around the details of your work experience e.g. start date, any expenses/pay if this has been advertised, where to report to, duration of work experience. Do this before you start to avoid any issues or misunderstandings.

General Placement/Work Experience Resources

Work experience tips: what to do on the first day of your internshipRead our top tips on what you can do before you start your internship to ensure you feel prepared... and how you can impress from your first day.

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