Why do a placement?

It is always good to hear from students both out on placement and back from placement as well as employers about the benefits of a placement year.
We have recently produced a series of video profiles in which individuals share their experiences regarding "a Year in Business".http://yibprofile.blogspot.co.uk/


We hear from Jordan Maxwell who is currently doing his placement year with VMware.
Jordan is studying BSc Management with International Business (Year in Business) at Royal Holloway and is a couple of months into his placement as a Sales and Business Development intern at Staines based VMware. VMware is a Global company specialising in cloud infrastructure and business mobility: it "allows enterprises to master a software developed approach to business and IT".

We also hear from Hippolyte Petit who has now completed his 12 month placement with The Walt Disney Company, working as a Digital Marketing placement student. Since his placement Hippolyte has also spent 3 months in New York as a summer intern with Sprinklr, a Company which has a complete social media management system. Hippolyte has now returned for his final year at Royal Holloway where he is studying BSc Management with Marketing (Year in Business)

Hippolyte says: "My digital marketing placement as part of The Walt Disney Company has been a fantastic experience! I have learnt so much while working on brands like Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and more. There has not been a day without learning something new!” (September 2016)

Finally we hear from a Placement Provider who attended our recent Year in Business event for 2nd year students. James Culley from SAP talks about why he encourages students from Royal Holloway to apply for a placement with SAP, a market leading company in enterprise application software, based locally to Royal Holloway. Thank you very much James for your encouraging words!

 Students returning from a placement last year also share their thoughts:

> Sarah Hunt spent her placement year as a Human Resources placement student within Executive recruitment at GSK. 

Sarah says: 'I would highly recommend a placement! It’s an invaluable experience that allows you to gain a vast amount of new skills as well as having a break from university for a year and earning some money.
It’s crucial to stay persistent when applying for jobs as you can easily get discouraged when rejected. However from experience I can tell you it is worth it in the end!

My three top tips would be: Get advice from the careers centre on your application, tailor your CV and cover letter to each company and research the company you are applying for!' (September 2016)

> Slav Stateva spent her placement year as a European Product Planning placement student with Canon Europe

Slav says: “My placement year was incredible... Not only did I meet so many amazing people who I will stay friends with for life but I also gained so much relevant experience. What is more important, I have clearer idea of what I want to do after graduating!” (September 2016)

> Gabi Whitehead spent her placement year with IBM as  a Sales Operations and Business Analytics placement student.

Gabi says: “I would recommend a Year in Business as it helped me realise what I wanted to do as a career and what I wanted to become as an individual.” (September 2016)

> Yu Yi Leung spent her placement year as an Operations Placement student with City Credit Capital UK. 

Yu Yi says: "A Year in Business (YIB) is a good chance for undergraduates to step out from university and explore the outside world. During YIB you may find the career you want to join is suitable for you or not and that gives you a clearer prospect  on thinking about what you really want in the future" (September 2016)