The document outlines a workshop aimed at preparing engineering undergraduates for placement opportunities, including tasks for improving CVs and interview skills. It also highlights the benefits of industry experience and practical steps for obtaining and succeeding in a placement. The resource is part of a series of workshops developed by Loughborough University and is licensed for educational use.

1. Preparing for Placement Workshop Add your name here Add your Email address here © Loughborough University 2009. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License . Please note that this resource is accompanied by a text document and is part of five workshops on Key Skills for Engineering undergraduates. The other workshops are: Working in Groups – 90 - 120 minutes Technical Report Writing - 90 minutes Oral Presentations – 90 – 120 minutes Sourcing Material and Writing a Literature Review – 90 - 120 minutes. Please note there is also an introductory document providing general instructions on the workshops.

2. Aims and Objectives AIMS: To increase preparedness for the placement process OBJECTIVES: To succeed in obtaining a placement

3. Introduction Reasons for a year in industry Obtaining your placement Surviving your placement

4. Before we start – Task 1 Time for participants to introduce themselves to others in their group. Then each group to introduce themselves to the other groups.

5. 1. Benefits Future job prospects Roles and career path Time management Interpersonal skills

6. 2. Practicalities Choosing your placement Applying for your placement Selection procedures

7. Practicalities - your CV Chronological or Skills based Essential information Referees Personal profiles Action phrases Easy to read

8. Task 2 Hand out examples of personal profiles then ask participants to write their own

9. Practicalities - your application Application forms Covering letters

10. Task 3 Hand out example covering letters and a job advertisement then ask participants to write a draft covering letter

11. Practicalities – selection procedure Interviews & interview questions Telephone interviews Assessment centres

12. Task 4 Hand out aptitude tests

13. 3. During your placement Do resolve difficulties promptly Do not walk out Keep a log or records of your work

14. Good Luck!

15. This resource was created by Glynis Perkin, Loughborough University and released as an open educational resource through the Open Engineering Resources project of the HE Academy Engineering Subject Centre. The Open Engineering Resources project was funded by HEFCE and part of the JISC/HE Academy UKOER programme. © 2009 Loughborough University This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License . The name of Loughborough University, and the Loughborough University logo are the name and registered marks of Loughborough University. To the fullest extent permitted by law Loughborough University reserves all its rights in its name and marks which may not be used except with its written permission. The JISC logo is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence. All reproductions must comply with the terms of that licence. The HEA logo is owned by the Higher Education Academy Limited may be freely distributed and copied for educational purposes only, provided that appropriate acknowledgement is given to the Higher Education Academy as the copyright holder and original publisher.