Undergrad Industrial Work Placements HELPPP!!!

[x.carol]

AAAAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
I'm proper stressing about this now..

I was wondering if anyone has any practical tips on finding a university work placement?
I reallyreally want to do a placement, I think theyre a brilliant way to look more employable to future employers, and also extending the time I'm going to get student discounts.

Buuuut. I can't find one!!
Trouble is I'm doing a tourism degree, and the majority of placements advertised on the internet are for finance or law or IT or engineering related placements (which I have neither the skills or interest in, hence doing this stupid tourism degree). I can only really do general management, or possibly HR or events, which is fine because thats what i'm happy doing, but there are so few unspecific placements.
Also, I can't move from Lincoln. Moving is the difference between being £4000 into debt in rent payments, or have £4000 less debt through rental income. So I'm not going to be moving. However, Lincoln is in the middle of nowhere and so there are pretty much no relevant placements advertised.

Tutors and carreers officers have not been much help. They just gave me a list of websites, which i'd already exhausted, and told me to send letters/emails out, which I've had no responce from. I sent about 15 out to a combination of places I would like to work and places I though might give a responce, just to 'test the waters' if that method would get me anywhere. Alas, no.
My weekend job havn't been any help, people who work there are either younger than me, dont know what a university is, or have been in that same job so long they have no contacts in the outside world.

So I was hoping you wonderful people who managed to read/skip to the end of my plea could offer any advice they themselves used or learnt if/when they have had a placement?

Thankyou so much!!
Carol x
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Yammy Viragoo 535 ♥

[Paivi]

Lincoln Tourism Office?

Or you could try to get a placement in a hotel; most of them offer live-in accommodation, so you wouldn't be restricted to Lincoln, but could even go abroad.
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My other bike's a Monster...

[iooi]

What exactly are you looking for out of the placement ?

Plenty of jobs relating to travel/tourism.

So really you need to decide which area you need to work in.

Try calling into local travel agents and see if they can help you. Or is that not the area you are looking at.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[Scythe]

I know your pain, I'm currently looking for an Engineering placement can't help however on the tourism front.

Good luck!
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2009 Yamaha YBR125 -> 2000 SV650S -> 2005 Kawasaki ZX6R 636

[Nick 50]

[Cunnington]

I got by on summer work in hotels and restaurants when I was a student in the early 90s.

I assume you are looking for a place at the end of the academic year, which ties in with the start of the summer tourist season. If you can find a big enough hotel locally, I'm sure they would love to have a keen, willing, underpaid lacky for as long as you are willing. I managed to work at a 125 room 5* hotel and there was a steady flow of management trainees passing through. That place was big enough to have a personnel department.

If there is anywhere similar nearby, pop in on spec with your CV and show willing. They cant be that busy this time of the year so should manage to fit you in.

If you have a background in tourism, and go in with an attitude that you want to learn rather than know it all already, you should be in with a big chance - look upon yourself as a solution to their staffing problem rather than a burden - good staff are a rarity.

My other piece of advice is get a decent set of waterproofs - there is nothing worse than turning up at work looking like you pissed yourself.
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'82 C50, '81 CB100, '84 GS125, '95 NTV650, '00 Bandit 600, '06 SV650, '56 Z1000, '89 NTV600
The Shaggy D.A. wrote: "You are invisible. Those who can see you are trying to kill you."

[x.carol]

Unfortunately with the whole "economic downturn" silliness myth thats about at the moment any state funded organisations wont have any interest in me, so I'm not going to get any luck with working with the council or any other government funded organisations.

Also, I have only really got 2 basic, but impossible things I want from this placement;
1) To be paid for it (I'm doing this placement to REDUCE my student loans, I've got plenty of relavent work experience to sneak me into the industries I hope to head towards)
2) For it to be within 20miles of Lincoln (I'm currently living in my mum's second house she got when she inherited some money after the grandparents died, so i live rent free. And that also means she's not keen on renting out the place to any old people without me being here too to make sure the place doesnt get wrecked, and I keep any rental income I get of the lodgers)

But other than that, I'll do annnyyythinggg!!!!
I think it might be time to man-up and start telephoning places, or maybe even dropping in? See how brave I'm feeling on Friday!

And dont worry, I have a car too so I will look perfectly presentable!
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Yammy Viragoo 535 ♥

[iooi]

20 miles will put you out to the coast.... Give or take.

Plenty of campsite work over the summer

Or there must be plenty of tourist attractions that would take your talents....

Remember your LOAN is just that and not due to be paid off till you earn over a certain amount....
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[daemonoid]

I grew up in Scotter (just north of Lincoln) and know it pretty well, I think you'll really struggle to get a worthwhile placement around there.

You'll have to be flexible about where you go - after all, it is tourism! Perhaps you could get a management company to handle the house? for their 10% cut they could check references and provide guarantees for both the rental income and intentional damage from tenants. If there's a company involved (and most estate agents do property management) your parents will probably feel a lot more at ease and you can get yourself off to Europe or at least London.
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@thomasgarrard | www.straitjkt.com | www.racingseven.com

[multijoy]

Go work on cruise ships? It's a bit pony if you've got ties on shore and are getting on a bit, but if you're young and single(ish), you'll not want to leave.

P&O are one of the better outfits to work for.
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'11 CBF1000A, '99 C90, '98 CB500
silky666: He rode amazingly well considering his bike is the weight of a small van and had slicks on.

[Scythe]

[kawakid]

I did a 1 year work placement when I was at Uni many many moons ago. It was essential, when I had my first job interviews after finishing uni, none of them mentioned grades/what I had done on my course, they were only interested in what I did on my placement year.

Now I am the recruiter and it is exactly the same. I want a degree or A-Levels, but I want at least 1 years working experience. I don't want to spend a year just training someone to get to a basic level, I'd much rather that had been done by someone else.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[daemonoid]

[x.carol]

I'm glad I'm getting some re-assurence that work placement year are good! I knew this already, but theyre not really promoted as well as they should at lincoln uni. Which is a shame.

But I don't want to go into Tourism! Well I don't not want to, but that's not my goal if there are no oppertunities, if that makes sence. I did a tourism degree because I didnt really know whatI wanted to do, but quite enjoyed the idea of a business degree & I liked doing geography, so tourism (I presumed) would be somewhere in a middle. But I feel like it's restricting me a bit now =/
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Yammy Viragoo 535 ♥

[angryjonny]

I studied in Sheffield and couldn't find anything for the summer. 1st summer I spent 6 weeks in America just driving round seeing the place and the rest of the summer packing cheese in boxes to pay for it.

2nd summer I thought I'd get a degree-related placement but found nothing. I tried allsorts but no joy, same story for the girlfriend (at the time). In the end we gave up and went down to Folkestone (where her folks lived) and worked in a factory for a week or two and I sent my CV off to Saga on the off-chance (as they're a big employer down that way). They ended up offering me a couple of weeks work without so much as an interview and during that fortnight I proved myself and they took me on for the rest of the summer. I was a dogsbody for a bit, then they realised I could do IT and I ended up building them a database app thingy. Not a big deal for them but CV-gold for me.

That experience, along with my degree, was enough to get me an interview at a software house in London in my 3rd year and before I did my 1st set of exams I had an unconditional offer for a graduate job. They even pulled the start-date forward, tempting me to accept with a trip to NYC for my first week.

TL;DR version: Student towns (of which Lincoln is one, these days) will always be awkward places to get placements due to competition. But somewhere there aren't a bunch of students but there are employers who take students but don't make a song and dance of it can be a goldmine for the enthusiastic soon-to-be grad. A summer job relevant to your degree (and future career) is awesome experience regardless of whether or not they're part of a recognised placement scheme.

[x.carol]

Hooraaaay! I got an interview at the place I wanted most!

All hope is not lost! =D
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Yammy Viragoo 535 ♥

[Rogerborg]

[x.carol]

What you on about? I'm not a drama or media student! :L
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Yammy Viragoo 535 ♥