As part of your degree at the University of Reading, you may have the chance to complete a professional placement. This could be a Professional Placement Year (PPY), a summer placement, a shorter credit-bearing placement, or a mandatory clinical/educational placement, depending on your course. Whichever type of placement you do, the Placements Team are here to support you through your journey of finding and securing a fantastic placement.
The benefits of a professional placement
There are many benefits to completing a professional placement, which can support your future employability and career goals, and help you stand out against the competition when applying for future roles.
The benefits of completing a placement include:
- Gaining industry experience in a sector you are interested in
- Boosting your CV to give great examples of your skills and experience
- Building your network of professional network
- Testing out a career path you are considering
- Improving your employability
- Giving you a competitive advantage when applying for graduate roles
Take a look at what our students say, to find out more about the benefits of completing a professional placement!
Support available through the Placements Team
There is lots of support available to you, through our dedicated Placements Team. The Placements Team is part of the University’s central Careers Team and we specialise in and support credit-bearing placement activities across the University’s schools and departments. Our team supports all students with preparation for their course-based placements as well as extra-curricular internships and work experience.
We provide support in the following ways:
1:1 appointments – our Placement Coordinators offer 1:1 appointments, which you can book through My Jobs Online. These are 30-minute appointments, and give you time to discuss any questions you may have or to receive help and guidance with your placement applications, including CV/cover letter checks, mock interviews, or help preparing for an assessment centre.
School-based training sessions – our Placement Coordinators deliver a range of school-based training sessions, covering a wide variety of topics to help you feel prepared for applying to placements. Topics may include how to find placement opportunities, writing a great CV and cover letter, how to succeed in interviews and assessment centres, and lots more!
Central events and workshops – every term, we run a programme of placement events and workshops, to provide additional support and guidance for students applying to placements. We run our famous Placement Boot Camps, designed to help students feel ready to apply for placement year opportunities, and we also run other events and workshops such as mock assessment centres.
Whichever type of professional placement you are planning to complete, find out more about how the Placements Team can support you in finding and securing a professional placement.
If you have any questions, you can email us at placements@reading.ac.uk and we will be more than happy to help you.
Emily Dewell, Placement Coordinator