Looking For a Placement

Preparation

During Induction week all 2nd year students registered on a degree scheme that includes an IY must attend an introductory talk by the IY Coordinator. The talk from this year is available as pdf / powerpoint slides

All 2nd year students on schemes with a compulsory industrial year are strongly encouraged to attend the Gregynog employability half-weekend in November.

You can view the slides that I used in the meeting on the 20th April, in particular some people asked for the links to job search sites.

Finding a placement

The following resources are available to help you find a job. We will provide as much help as we can but ultimately it is only you who can make applications and prepare yourself properly for interviews and other recruitment activities!

• Jobs we hear about will be placed on the Your Future web site (accessible only within the Aberystwyth University network or using the VPN). Check it regularly! We will also sometimes email opportunities and reminders to second years registered on an IY scheme or that have told us they are looking to find a placement.
• The IY Administrator (Myfanwy) is available as a first point of call for general advice concerning your IY. Please keep us informed as you make applications and get interviews or rejections etc. A brief email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. is all that is required. We will ask students to come and discuss their IY application process during the 2nd year - particularly if you have not kept us updated.
• The careers service provides a `drop in' service each weekday between 10:30am and 1 pm in its office in the Students' Union. The Careers service also provides several elearning modules that will be useful when preparing for job interviews and also the Gregynog weekend. Refer to the links on 'How to Read a Job Advertisement', 'Matching Yourself to a Role' and 'Understanding the Recruiter's Perspective' at the elearning website.
• Students intending to go abroad for their placement should consider the Erasmus scheme. To quote one previous student "The grant is is quite substantial considering you just sign a few forms." (It will help with the additional expenses incurred when going abroad.) The deadline for applying is normally the end of April (and may be possible until mid May). Contact the Study Abroad Office (Room S11 Cledwyn Building) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details.
• The YES website also contains a lot of useful information about finding placements provided by the careers service.

Second year students who have not secured a placement by 1st September will normally be required to change scheme, and return for their third year, instead. Please contact us at that time, to arrange this. However, note that a few placements may come up in the summer. So do keep in contact with us if you're still looking at that time!

Duration

Students and employers can negotiate when and for how long the placement takes place between the end of the summer term (June) and the beginning of the autumn term (end September) of the following year. Students may work for the extra summer months if they wish (although the current IY Coordinator encourages a vacation prior to embarking on the demanding third year of study). An assessed industrial year must be a minimum of 42 weeks.

Students occasionally ask if they can take more than one shorter duration job. In general this is possible provided all of the jobs are of an appropriate nature and the combined total of 42 weeks is undertake. Clearly there is a substantial risk unless all jobs are obtained before the IY starts. Please talk the the IY coordinator if you are thinking of anything like this.

Accepting a job

Hopefully at some point you will be offered a job. Think carefully before accepting the offer, particularly if you have other interviews scheduled. Once an offer is accepted you have committed yourself. This may not seem important in the excitement of receiving a job offer but be aware that backing out later(and so breaking your contract) not only gives a very bad impression of you personally, but may well jeopardise other future students prospects of working for that company. The company may avoid Aberystwyth students if you give them a bad experience. Most employers will understand if you need a little time to decide on a job offer, however we would advise you to contact them if the delay is more than a few days (or longer than the acceptance period specified in their offer).

Make sure that you are satisfied that the job being offered will allow you to satisfy the learning outcomes for the module. For most IT jobs being offered by reputable companies this will not be a problem, but if in doubt contact the Industrial Year Coordinator.

The employer should be aware of their employer responsibilities (pdf version) when offering an IY placement job. They are not onerous and many of the large companies and employers that regularly take (our) students will be aware of them already.

Once you accept an IY job offer please complete and return the IY Confirmation form. Do not delay returning this form if you do not know all the information; fill in as much as you can and send an updated form later.