Placement Experience: Information Technology Placement at Procter & Gamble- Callum Fry

How many placement applications did you make before securing your placement? Did you get any support? 

I applied to around 10 placements. The system is the same as if you were applying for a full-time job, with many interviews and skill tests. I had a good amount of support from the placement team through the university.

What was your main concerns about going on placement?

My main concern was increasing university by an extra year. I thought this would mean it would take longer to get into full-time work. However, I then realised that if I was good enough for my role, I would receive a job offer, which meant I could walk straight back into a professional job after university.

What has been the most rewarding part of your placement? 

The most rewarding part was finishing my quarterly presentations, in particular, the final one. This is because it allowed me to see the work I had completed and how much I had progressed. It was also a great time for feedback, and I learnt what was going well and what wasn't. The final one is specific because I found out I was getting the role after University, which was my primary goal from the start.

Has your placement year influenced your future career path?

Yes, very much so! Because I didn't know I wanted to be a data engineer, which was my placement role, and I had never looked into it before.

What is the advice that you would give to students considering the year placement option? 

I recommend the placement program to everyone because of how much you learn and the chance to gain an amazing job at the end of it. The advice I would give is to really focus on the soft skills, you can learn all the technical skills at University/Self learning. The soft skills learnt on placement will be useful through all and every career path.