// Archives

Placement years: are they worth it? These five students think so 

By Luke Lynch, Employability Education Projects Officer Think integrated placement years are only for engineering and computer science students? Not anymore, thanks to the University’s new ‘optional Placement Year’ scheme.  We caught-up with the first cohort of students as they approached the mid-point of their placements. As well as sharing their workplace experiences, they were keen to pass on advice to anyone thinking of following in …

Getting Experience Within Architecture

By Izzy Rhodes, University of Nottingham alumna and founder of Swain Architecture Beyond university, the world of architecture offers an open plan of opportunities for students to build the foundation of their careers. When it comes to getting professional experience under your belt, the competition can be fierce, so to get ahead of the crowd. You …

Why You Should Be Thinking About a Placement In Your First Year

By Bethany Ramshaw, second-year studying animal sciences As the snow continues to fall, summer may seem far away. However, that doesn’t mean it’s too soon to think about a placement. Short-term, work experience style placements are ideal for the summer. They keep your mind working over those months away, and help you begin to build …

How to Impress on Your Internship in Five Easy Steps

by Sinead Butler, second-year, English and Philosophy student Yep, it’s that time of the year again. The process of searching for spring or summer work experience has begun. It’s also never too early to start thinking about how to impress on your internship when you do secure one. Going into a new working environment and …

First Year, No Fear: How You Can Start To Think About Your Career

By Laura Sage, BA Hons English (2017) When I was in my first year, lots of my friends were of the mindset that there were three or more long years ahead of them, and with all the settling in, getting to grips with their course, and making friends, their career could take a back seat. …

What I Learned During Work Experience at a Magazine

By student blogger Antonia Munday, BA Hons English Literature and Language I  was nearing the end of my first year and decided I needed to add some work experience to my CV. An opportunity at a magazine presented itself, and I ended up getting a lot more out of it than just learning how to make a good cuppa. …

Your Questions Answered: Working as an English Teacher Abroad

By Alice Gould, LLB (Hons) Law with European Law (2016) In April of this year I was very excited to find out that my first ever assessment day had been successful. This meant that in a few months’ time I would be teaching in China. Fast forward seven months and I’ve been through a terrifying visa …

Micro Lady in a Big World

Sophie Parfitt. BSc Microbiology. Industrial placement student at Redx Pharma, 2016-2017. At least, that’s what my CV will say by the end of this year. There’ll be a lot of trials and tribulations ahead – but I’m certain I’ll learn a lot too! This February, I got a call that frankly I wasn’t prepared for, …

Not for Profit: What It’s Like to Work for a Charity [Part Two]

Ever thought about working for a charity, but not sure what it would be like? In the second part of my series on careers in the charity sector – read part one here – I caught up with Mark Colliass, a graphic designer for the charity Open Doors, to find out. Here’s what we talked about. What …

Not for Profit: Eat, Sleep, Change World, Repeat [Part One]

By Mike Walker, student blogger When you switch on the news, you can’t help but be bombarded with huge world issues: injustice, poverty, inequality and massive global phenomena. It can be hard ignore. Do you want to do something, anything, but don’t know where to start? In this post, I’m going to share some of practical lessons I’ve …