Placements

I decided to do a placement due to employers requiring real world experience and it's hard to go into a field without any background knowledge or experience in it. So a placement year would be the best way to get both of those things.

One of the most important things that you can't be taught in class is the importance of good communication skills and good interpersonal skills. It's not just about what you know, it's also about who you know and how to get the information across in an efficient way.

The advice I'd give to students considering doing placements is absolutely go for it, you will not regret it. It is one of the best things you can possibly do to prepare yourself for a career.

The placement opportunity was a massive pull for me because psychology is huge.

There are so many opportunities, so many different career options you can explore. So it was really useful for me to be able to go down those avenues to work out what I wanted to do before I got there.

My placement was in frontline mental health. I learnt a lot about not only my degree, my subject and my field, but also about myself, I think.

It really helped consolidate my learning, there were a lot of things that I had learnt in my course that were then translated and I could see them working in practice.

So the University of Portsmouth really helped me to realise who I am by allowing me to pursue these career opportunities.

On placement, I found that it's quite affirming when you realise this is real life and you're doing a real job. It's not just textbook, it's what you’ve put into practice and that's an amazing feeling.

Being able to run my own projects and have the entirety of site see them has really boosted my confidence.

I feel very proud of what I've achieved within such a short time frame. I would encourage anybody who's considering doing a placement to go for it. It's been life-changing for me.

On my course, there are opportunities to have placements. It really helped me a lot to get to the place I am now.

I did a placement in one of the nurseries in Portsmouth and I was working with really young children, that I hadn't worked with before. I hadn't had the opportunity to work with such young children. Working with these younger years really showed me that this is something that I really enjoy and I have loved every second of it.

It's been such a real insight, a practical insight into learning with children and I'm able to use my knowledge, that I've used at university and learnt, in my teaching today.

I was extremely fortunate to get the experience at the football club. I don't think there's anywhere else that's offered anything like that.

I did a placement with Premier League Productions. I think it’s massively helped me to get where I am today and I think that's something that's just been so beneficial for my career, to have that on my CV, to say I've worked in club football, I understand club football and how media works within it.

Doing the placement year was absolutely crucial for me.I think it's massively thanks to the partnership between the football club and the university as to why I've got the experience that I do, which has then led me to employment.