Portsmouth Business School

FAQ's

How should I go about starting my placement search?

At the start of level 2 you will find that 'PBS Placements' shows as a course on your victory site. This is where you can find all things placement related from application tip's through to the thoughts of previous placement students and of course the current live vacancies. You will be able to view everything on this site straight away except for the vacancies. In order to gain access to the vacancies page you must first register with the Placements Office. To do this you must attend at least one of the Placement talks scheduled throughout October (see Victory calendar for dates and times). Once you have registered you will be given access and you can start applying.

The key is to start early. This is due to a huge amount of vacancies becoming live at the start of the academic year, building to a peak around New Year and dropping off dramatically throughout semester 2.  Also it is unlikely you will get the first job you go for and most students put the first couple of interviews and assessment days down to experience.

How many vacancies should I apply for?

As with any job search you should not put all your eggs in one basket. We recommend you apply for at least 2-3 placements per week with good quality applications (no copy & paste). To ensure you manage to keep up with these levels of applications throughout the academic year you need to treat your placement search like any other level 2 unit and set a good amount of time aside each week to apply for placement vacancies.

If my course offers a placement am I guaranteed to get one?

The best way to think about this is to view getting a placement as an additional unit during level 2 of your course. Those students who put in the effort throughout the year, attending all meetings, workshops, skills sessions, presentations, meet & greet events etc as well as keeping in regular contact with the Placements Office and taking onboard the help and advice on offer, as well as applying to a good number of vacancies, stand an excellent chance of securing a placement job.  Those who do not put in the effort greatly reduce the likelihood of being offered a placement.

How can I boost my chances of getting a placement?

Placement vacancies are highly sort after and competition is extremely strong. As a result you will have to put the effort into each and every application stage in order to put yourself in a good position to progress. Remember you need to sell yourself as an ideal candidate for each individual vacancy. Copy and Paste applications do not work!

The key to doing this is to treat your placement search as though it were another level 2 unit. If you don't do this you will end up putting off applying for jobs, miss deadlines and when you do apply you will not have put enough effort and research into your application to make it through to the next stage of the recruitment process. To get around this you need to manage your time well, i.e. set aside specific time blocks throughout the week to focus on your placement search.

For help and advice with any aspect of the recruitment process you can refer to the relevant section of the 'Application Tips' page on our victory site as well as coming in and asking any member of the placements team for advice. Additional to this the placements office arranges for companies to regularly come into the business school and run placement specific events including meet & greets, presentations, skill sessions and workshops. This is an ideal opportunity to find out first hand not only what it is like to work for that specific company, but also what they look for in an ideal application.

My landlord and housemates are pressuring me to sign up for a house for next year, but I still want a placement. What should I do?

Although the University Housing Office list of available housing comes out in mid March Housing have stated that this list is updated on a daily basis and new accommodation comes on all year round. Housing also runs ‘secure a home day’s’ later on in the year for any students who are still looking for accommodation.

The choice here is really one of priority. Do you think short-term and sign up for a house in Portsmouth for next year or do you focus on your long-term goal of securing a placement and thereby increase your employability and final degree classification.  Ultimately the choice is yours.

What happens if I don't get a placement?

If a placement is only an option on your course you need not do anything. In this situation you only officially opt to do a placement once you have secured one. You will return after the summer to start your final year of study.

If on the other hand a placement is a compulsory part of your course you have two options. The first, and most common, is to apply to change course i.e. move from Business Studies to Business Administration. The second is to defer the year and try and find a placement the following year. In both cases you must contact the undergraduate centre for more information on how to do this.

What different types of work placements are there?

There are a huge amount of different jobs available as work placements covering all business degree course disciplines. The types of areas available are very similar to those found on graduate business schemes and can include Marketing, Sales, Accounting, Finance, HR, Statistical, Management Trainee, Legal etc. Within each of these areas there is a wide array of different roles. For example within marketing you could be organising events, redesigning websites, producing brochures and advertisements, dealing with product launches etc. The key is to think of what it is you want to gain from the year and apply for roles that will offer you this. Don't be put off by company names or job titles as to understand what is actually involved in a role you must read the full job specification.

Will I be offered a job at the end of the year?

A placement year is a fixed term contract and as such there is no obligation for the company to offer you a full time role after this. However, companies are constantly trying to retain talented students and as a result a substantial number of placement students do get offered graduate jobs with their placement organisations.

Regardless of being offered a job with your placement organisation or not your employability will be massively improved by undertaking a placement and as a result placement students find it much easier to get work after graduation. 

Are the placements paid?

Yes. The average salary outside of London is around £15k and inside London this goes up to around £17k. Remember though that these figures are averages and there are two ends to the spectrum.

Can I be exempt from doing a placement?

You can only be exempt if you are firstly on a course with a compulsory placement year and secondly if you have had previous work experience of the same or higher level then what would be expected from a placement job. If you believe you meet both of these criteria's you must provide suitable evidence detailing what you have done as well as detailed references from previous employers. For further information on exemptions please contact the placements office.