Steve Rook - Work Experience, Placements and Internships

Work Experience, Placements and Internships

Palgrave Career Skills

Work Experience, Placements and Internships

Steve Rook

Steve Rook 2016

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First published 2016 by PALGRAVE

Palgrave in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW.

Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martins Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Palgrave is a global imprint of the above companies and is represented throughout the world.

Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 9781137462015 paperback

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Preface

I have been encouraged to write this book because of the fantastic feedback Ive received on my Graduate Career Guidebook which has been out for a few years now and is proving to be a great success.

Whilst touring the country over the last couple of years talking to students, graduates, academics, employers and careers advisers, I have found that employment experience continues to grow in importance in the recruitment process. Im not surprised by this because experience is such a great way for employers to try before they buy. However, Im conscious that the need to build up impressive CVs before even applying for graduate jobs puts an even greater burden on students and graduates. You have to take such focused control of your futures at a time when its hard enough dealing with the present! Therefore, Ive written a guide, which, I hope, will help everyone, at every stage, take a step back and make the most of your journeys into the big bad world!

Enjoy the drive. Some roads will be dull and confusing, some damn right scary but, others will be full of sunshine and promise and youll develop great energy and enjoyment from being the master of your own destiny. Feel free to email me any time at steventhomasrook@yahoo.co.uk.

Steve Rook

Acknowledgements

My main supporters in this guide have been my lovely wife, Susan, and supportive and inspiring mentor and editor, Suzannah Burywood. I dont find writing easy because I have an overwhelming drive to present my ideas, advice and guidance in the most accessible and useful way I can find. So, some days go on and on, and I rely on these dual literary sentinels to keep me on track!

I also want to say a big thanks to all the academics and advisers who have welcomed me to talk to their students from Swansea to Preston. I massively enjoy these visits! If you want me to inspire students at your university, just drop me a line at . Off to Ireland next week to see the students at Institiid Teicneolaochta Dhn Dealgan (and visit a few bars in Temple Bar!).

Introduction: Why you need this book

Contents

You only live once

As a student or graduate in todays recruitment market you have an incredible range of career options. However, more than ever before, its crucial to take control of your own destiny. This employability journey means you have to trawl through all your choices, find the best path and develop the exact skills you need to move forward. This also means you need experience, and lots of it.

This book takes you through this skill development process, from day 1 at university right through to graduation. This journey is illustrated below.

Whats covered?

Throughout this guide, the experience journey has been systematically and carefully broken up into its individual tasks so that you can focus on one issue at a time, at your own leisure. However, of course, life is rarely so simple. Therefore, the book has also been designed to help you move freely and easily from one issue to another. For example, if youre writing your CV for a meeting your mum has arranged with a local entrepreneur, you could find yourself jumping back and forth between the following chapters:

Managing your networks and social media ()

University, societies and volunteering ()

Applications and interviews ().

Who its for

This book is for students and graduates at every stage in their career journeys. Youll find something here, whether youre an overachieving first-year student ready to take up formal experience and internships or a graduate just starting out on your experience trail. The good news is, its never too early or too late to get stuck in.

Information, advice and guidance

Yes, with this book, you get all three! Where information is defined as data and intelligence, advice involves instruction on how to move forward, and guidance is more personalised feedback to help you take control.

Guidance is achieved through a range of coaching methodologies in particular, the regular use of self-assessment activities in combination with pointers as to how you can progress according to your specific answers. This is exemplified in the exercise below and the following box labelled Reflecting on your answer. Try this activity right now to see how a bit of reflection can go a long way! You can complete all the exercises in the book at www.plagravecareerskills.com or download them as required.

Self-assessment: Where do you want to start?

In the table below:

Identify four distinct things youre keen to research about work experience and internships.

Place them in the order in which you think they should be tackled.

Find the page where you want to start.

Four aspects of work experience and internships you want to research

Reflecting on your answers:

If you just quickly looked over this exercise, do you need to give it more attention?

If youve jumped straight to researching internships or graduate jobs, have you overlooked the foundations?

If youre still looking at basic experience when you already have plenty are you being brave enough to move on?

You get out what you put in

Hard graft and personal reflection are essential elements to successful work experience. This book cant do the work for you, but it will assist with the overall management of your journey. You will gain most from each topic if you carefully digest each learning point, read more widely and personally engage with the exercises. This will put you in the driving seat.