Emma Cameron, 08 May 2009
For my degree, a placement year is optional but strongly advise so a large proportion of students organise one each year, and I would strongly advise it too!

My placement year was easier to organise than any assistant post or internship will be when I graduate as certain organisations and companies have ties which our uni which means them regularly target us as an undergraduate employment source.

It has also given me an invaluable insight into the work I wish to do when I am older – Clinical Psychology. From reading the literature you can only build so much of a picture, but by actually being in the field you can gain so much more. It is very different to what I assumed it to be, not in a bad way, but the literature only takes you so far.

Talking to all the employees I work with has also opened up my eyes to all sorts of other work avenues I would never previously even have thought of. It has made me see that once I do graduate, and if I do not know what I want to do straight away, I have time to make an informed decision - I do not have to go straight into the job I want for life! All my colleagues on my placement had taken varied and interesting paths to all reach this same destination.

It has also made me question my career choice as I have now got a better flavour for the work. If I had not taken this opportunity to have this placement I would not have known this and may have blindly gone into a career I wasn’t ready for / do not want.

My placement experience has made me much more focused for when I go back into final year and I have gained many invaluable skills which I know I can use for coursework, my dissertation, and in my later life. It is helpful to see how module theory is linked to practise and can be used in real life applications.

Putting this experience on my CV will also look great to potential employers as they can see how dedicated I am to this field of work, that I know this is the right career path as I have worked in the area before, and that I have a reference that can back up that I have the right skills necessary to do the job, and do it well.

I would advise anyone thinking of opting out of a placement year to really think about what you will miss out on, and what placements can help you achieve.