July 25, 2024, by Arts Placements

The Power of the Workplace – Summer Research Placement Programme

By Arwen Jenkins

With university life being weeks full of flexibility in terms of your own timetable and independently deciding when to do your work, jumping into a 9 to 5 over the summer holidays was quite a big shift. However, the Summer Research Placement Programme (SRPP) in the Faculty of Arts allowed me to embrace this opportunity and get authentic experience of office life and a 9 to 5 career.

For many people on the programme, working from home was the norm. However, my research placement focused on archival work, so I worked at Kings Meadow Campus Manuscripts and Special Collections department.  I had a month learning new skills, a new job and navigating a professional office workplace for the first time.  This was both daunting and exciting.

My prior work experience was mostly hospitality, meaning I was more familiar with conversing with customers than co-workers. I was excited to have a shift of work pace and style. Imagining in my head maybe it would be just like ‘The Office’. And in many ways it was! With a strong sense of community in the department, it was lovely to chat to people on tea breaks about their work as well as their lives outside of the office. These are not necessarily regarded as essential skills and experiences to have for future careers but it is so valuable to get a taste for what your future could look like.

The placement helped me realise what parts I like of a research career and which parts I found more difficult. Through the four weeks I realised, as much as I enjoyed looking at the archives and particularly analysing older historical materials, I wanted to have a more social aspect to the work. I want a job that is more of a mix between research and working with people.  This was really helpful to learn, I would have not realised how important it is to me without this placement.

I was quite lucky that my project had two research assistants assigned to it.  I had a partner to share my workload with and have that socialisation I enjoyed. This was really valuable for me. Although the work we were doing was independent, we made sure we were both working at the same pace.  We showed interesting materials to each other, and this was a much-needed confidence boost when I felt unsure at points in the placement. Mastering the flexibility of working independently as well as collaboratively in the same work environment was valuable. Both are essential to any future careers.

This placement has given me so many new skills, such as handling archival material, investigating materials and developing my research skills more practically beyond university level. However, I am most grateful for the experience of being in the workplace.  This was something quite nerve-wracking for me, as I was intimidated to work in an office setting. Thanks to the welcoming staff in the Manuscripts department, alongside the placement itself, this has really built up my confidence.

This placement has really helped me reflect on what I want from a career in the future. Picking out the work I enjoyed as well as what I was missing in my ideal future job. I think there is a lot of pressure for university students to have a clear plan for the future. The stress of having to have your life plan figured out when you’ve only just begun your 20s is intense. However, through placements like these, this process of trial and error to what you enjoy can help relieve part of this as well as giving you ideas and brilliant experience for whatever future path you decide to take.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn