Work experience

Undergraduate placements and work experience

One of the key factors that will make any student stand out to a potential employer is having undertaken some vocationally relevant work experience. Our Placement Advisors are responsible for organising placements for a large number of Undergraduate students studying courses across the School's diverse range of programmes.

Our Placement Advisor guides students into work placements and work experience opportunities by delivering talks within lectures, working on an individual basis, hosting workshops, presentations and events, email and social media, and providing bespoke documentation and information packs.

Most of our degrees have a one-year period of employment built into the structure of the course to allow students to take up a one-year placement, also known as a sandwich year. Typically, this will happen after year two and students will then return to the University to complete their final year. As well as providing students with the opportunity to explore the world of work, a placement also benefits employers by offering them a chance to take on intelligent and enthusiastic young people.

A wide range of organisations participate in the programme, from both public and private sectors, and vary in size from large multinationals to small companies. Some students want the experience of working in a large company, while others prefer to work in a smaller organisation where they can get more involved in all manner of projects and gain broad experience.

There are also opportunities for overseas placements and study abroad.

• School of Marketing and Management

  Opportunities for placements and work experience

  We strongly encourage all of our students to seek work experience, internships and/or a placement during their course. We know that you will benefit not only through the work experience gained, but also from the contacts made; the networking that can be achieved during this time is pivotal in attaining the career that you want.

  Extensive volunteering opportunities to enhance your CV

  Not all students choose to take a placement year, and so we work with a number of companies to offer our students a wide range of volunteering opportunities. These are vital to enhance your CV, but can also be used as a valuable opportunity to network and meet the managers of these companies.

  Extensive use of Guest Speakers

  We realise that it is important for our students to be able to learn from people who are currently working within the marketing, sports and events industries. In order to achieve this, we run a number of ‘Guest Speaker’ events throughout the year. Examples of past speakers include The Football Association and Eventsforce.

• School of Strategy and Leadership

  Within the School of Strategy and Leadership, we believe that graduate employment is a high priority and understand that this is one of the key reasons that students wish to undertake an undergraduate degree. We are passionate about providing a range of initiatives to support and develop the employment skills of all students to include:

  • Support of an Employment Personal Tutor and Placement Advisor
  • Skills modules delivered through the course focusing on employment and academic skills
  • Additional employment workshops run throughout the year
  • An optional placement module available after successful completion of the second year
  • Series of events involving guest speakers drawn from employers, professional bodies and alumni

  Your Employment Personal Tutor in SAM can provide you with a structured and individually tailored employment support service, which is aimed at helping you to make a successful transition from University into graduate employment. Your dedicated Employment Personal Tutor can support you to understand the skills sought by graduate employers, as well as providing guidance and support to assist in seeking and applying for Placements, Undergraduate and Graduate employment opportunities and further study.

  They have a wide ranging experience and knowledge of the graduate employment market, writing and reviewing CVs, preparing for interviews and assessment centres, remuneration, and managing the recruitment process from application to job offer.

  In addition to this, an exciting range of employers have visited our campus recently to give guest talks and run events designed to help develop employability skills; such as mock assessment centres, challenges and mentoring schemes. These employers represent a range of sectors and include: Jaguar Land Rover, Peugeot, NHS, Coventry NHS, Enterprise Rent a Car, Severn Trent, Phillips and Santander.

• Coventry Law School

  Students within our Law School will have opportunities to gain work experience with local and national law firms, local advice centres and charities as well as within local authority and education networks. All students have access to support in applying for these opportunities.

  There is also the opportunity to volunteer in our Legal Advice Clinic, Business, Law and Enterprise Clinic or Employment Law Clinic and handle real cases for clients. Here you will be supervised by staff with many years’ experience in practice.

  There are also options to spend a year studying overseas, providing an international experience that many businesses look for when employing a graduate.