Getting your foot in the door of the professional world can be a difficult and intimidating task. Approaching the task in the right way will help you survive your first work placement and make it a positive experience.

Dr Richard Keeble, head of the Journalism Department at London’s City University, underlines the hit-and-miss nature of finding a work experience placement. “While in many cases a simple phone call to your department of interest might do the job, other institutions will require a formal application letter including an immaculate CV. Always follow up with a call. Sometimes it will take a few persisting calls to land a placement. In any case it is vital to keep on trying.”

Once at your new workplace, make sure you are given at least some tasks relating to your degree subject. Never be content in the role of the office tea-maker. If this is all you are offered, don’t just quit. First, approach your supervisor and explain why you’re unhappy. If your situation doesn’t improve at all, see your personal tutor at university. Still miserable? Leave and don’t look back. Your next placement is around the corner and chances are you’ll be second-time lucky.

Many students, however, enjoy their first work placement, and what they gain is truly mouth-watering: the placement is an opportunity to shadow professionals in their chosen careers and find out how they reached their current positions; they learn invaluable insights into office politics; the lucky few are offered further assignments and sometimes even job offers after graduation.

I know from experience how scary a first placement can be. Office staff can make you feel well integrated and appreciated; others simply loathe temps and treat you accordingly. There are legendary stories about crying students fleeing placements, put off for life. But before you rush, howling, for the swing-doors, ask yourself whether a few snooty comments aren’t a price worth paying for a breath of the real working world.

If you’re a first-year undergraduate, you shouldn’t expect to be paid for the placement. So make sure that the time is well spent: research your field for the best companies to volunteer for. Which company name would you most like to add to your CV? The difficulty of landing a placement will vary tremendously from profession to profession. Students studying for formal qualifications within a profession with set rules and a tradition of taking on student temps, such as the law, will find it easier than students entering professions which don’t require formal qualifications – journalism, for example. Before you finish your work experience, make sure to obtain a written reference from your supervisor and ask them to sign your work.

If you’ve read all this and think you don’t need all the hassle, because you have good marks, think again! The best degree from a top university or college may not be enough if you lack work experience on your CV. Competition for graduate jobs is getting fiercer each year. Make sure your make the most of your university’s links with your chosen field. And good luck!

Barbara Brandtner, BA Journalism and Sociology, City University, London

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