Scarlett WilsonSo as you may have seen from Twitter and Facebook, Bubble recently visited the Manchester Digital Talent Day – we saw lots of eager students that were all looking for different types of things, from full-time graduate jobs to work experience and apprenticeships. But a common one that kept coming up was placement opportunities and it’s not surprising really – placements can be a brilliant way for students to gain some practical work experience throughout their degree.
Experience in a specific field can be really impressive to a lot of potential employers once you’ve graduated, so a degree with a placement opportunity is definitely worth looking into. If you’ve been asked to find yourself a placement it can be a little daunting to say the least – but a brilliant way to engage with companies is by going to career events. So we’ve come up with five ways to bag yourself a work placement at a careers fair.
Do Your Research Before
If you’ve got a career event coming up in the next few weeks then you should really try to have a look into who’s attending the event. It should be online but if not I’m sure your career advisor would be able to find out for you. Once you’ve found out, have a look at the list and work out what all the companies do and which ones would offer you the best placement opportunities.
When you’ve got your shortlist you should look at the companies in-depth and work out why you would like to do your placement with them. If you can turn up at the event showing you know the company and are aware of some of their projects then you’re more likely stand out from the crowd.
Dress Smartly
I know that it seems completely alien to dress up when you’re on a university campus in the day (I know my usual attire was a comfy hoody and a pair of jeans!) – but if you’re meeting prospective employers then you want to show that you’ve put a bit of effort in – the candidates that shone out to us were the ones that had obviously made an effort. So if you’re serious about bagging yourself a placement then you should dress the part.
Don’t Be Too Abrupt
I know you’ve got a lot of employers to speak to, but you don’t want to arrive at the stand say hello and just ask if there are any placement opportunities. It can be little off-putting to employers because it can seem like you don’t care what placement you get as long as you get one!
So engage in a bit of dialogue before you ask – talk about the company and ask about the company culture and what sort of things they do on an average day – this shows you’ve got a real interest in the company.
Bring Your CV Along
Employers can see hundreds of students in a day when they attend a career fair – this means that unfortunately it can be difficult to remember everyone, however if you bring your CV along then employers can be reminded of you after the event. If you’re worried your CV is not quite up to scratch, have a look at our post which helps you decide what to put on your graduate CV.
Follow-up
After the careers fair a friendly follow-up email could really help you bag yourself a placement opportunity. You could start the email by thanking them for taking the time out to chat to you and then go on to discuss why that company in particular interests you.
This shows your potential employer that you’re dedicated and willing to put a little bit of effort in – just make sure the email isn’t too long-winded – most employers are busy people so you don’t want to be taking up too much of their time!
So there we go; a few ways you can bag yourself a placement opportunity at a careers fair. If you’ve got any more ideas feel free to comment below.
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