# Careers Service

**Source**: https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/experience/placement/benefits/
**Parent**: https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/experience/placement/

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# Careers Service

- [Explore options](https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/options/)
- [Get experience](https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/experience/)
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- [CareerConnect](https://careerconnect.manchester.ac.uk)
- [Further study and funding](https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/study/)
- [International](https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/international/)
- [For graduates](https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/graduates/)
- [For recruiters](https://www.employers.manchester.ac.uk/)
- [About Us](https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/)

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## What are the benefits of completing a Placement?

A Placements Year offers a range of benefits including:

- Offering you an insight into the ‘World of Work’ and allows you to get a feel for what you do and don’t like doing
- Adds invaluable work experience to your CV which is attractive to graduate employers
- Provides the opportunity to work with a more diverse group of people
- Able to apply elements of academic learning in the workplace
- Develops your skills further in many areas including; time management, email/business communication, project work, working in a team
- Gives you experience of applying for jobs and interview practice – and the potential to secure a job before returning to your final studies

A Placement Year offers you a chance to ‘road-test’ both a job and company before any permanent commitment is made, it gives you the opportunity to become familiar with a certain kind of company and decide for yourself if this suits your own career goals. It is also worth noting that many employers use placement opportunities as a way to recruit into their graduate jobs with 42% of placement students returning to their placement provider after their final year of study. *(Institute of Student Employers 2017).*

The benefit of returning to your final year of study knowing you have secured a graduate level role can be very comforting. Just knowing you have professional work experience to demonstrate to graduate employers alongside your academic record keeps you ahead of the competition. In a competitive graduate market employers are looking for both high academic ability and relevant work experience.

[High Flyers Research](https://www.highfliers.co.uk/download/2018/graduate_market/GMReport18.pdf) report on the Graduate Market in 2018 found *“More than a third of recruiters who took part in the research repeated their warnings from previous years – that graduates who have had no previous work experience at all are unlikely to be successful during the selection processes for the top employers’ graduate programmes”.*

> I chose to do a placement year primarily because I wanted to increase my employability. Prior to my year out, I had never worked in an office environment except for short work experience placements, and I knew it would be a great opportunity to try something new as well as develop my transferrable skills. I also wanted a change from the University environment and the chance to live in a different part of the country and meet new peopleJulie, Biochemistry with Industrial/ Professional Experience, Pfizer

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