Placements
Plymouth Marjon University is serious about providing vocationally relevant degrees that produce employable graduates who have the skills to benefit the local economy, local communities and local businesses.
As an employer, recruiting one of our students on a work placement enables you to tap into a new pool of talent that can make a real impact on your business and improve performance. Our students bring enthusiasm, innovation and creativity, fresh ideas, up-to-date knowledge and research capabilities to your organisation. A placement can act as an extended interview and is a cost-effective way of recruiting; many of our students go on to work for their placement employer after graduation.
Working in business on a placement during their time at University helps our students to gain both academically and personally. Putting theories into practice in a real-life setting improves their academic performance as well as enhancing their employability. By providing a student with this opportunity will enable you to contribute to the future development of a skilled workforce. Placement Learning is different from work experience; it is a planned period of learning, normally outside of the University and the learning outcomes are part of the student’s degree studies. At Plymouth Marjon University, our work placements are all formally recognised, and included as part of many degree programmes. Credit is not awarded for undertaking work, but for the skills demonstrated as a result of the experience.
Boost your employability
- Degrees that involve placement learning is a great way for students to get practical, hands-on experience to complement their academic work in a supportive environment. It gives students the chance to contextualise and reflect on their studies as well as identify any personal strengths, weaknesses and future career aspirations.
- Research shows that employers are more likely to employ graduates who have relevant placement experience.
- Research shows that students who undertake placements improve their academic performance, because students become more involved with the learning process and are therefore, better motivated.
- Placements help you to make valuable links within your industry: links which could lead to employment down the line.
Why you should offer work placements
- You get access to individuals with higher-level skills who can bring new ideas to the company whose knowledge or interests are relevant to your business.
- An additional resource – a fixed term placement means that you make use of a flexible source of talent, ideal if you have a discrete project that lends itself to a temporary appointment.
- Add significant value to your business – Plymouth Marjon University students bring you fresh new ideas and innovative ways of doing things
- Support your future recruitment plans - a short term placement has the potential to help you identify key staff over the longer term to help you meet your business goals. Little initial training is needed to convert a placement student into a fully-fledged member of your business, given their experience with you.
- Support students to gain employability skills - placements can form an important part of your business’s ethos, corporate social responsibilities and identity by developing the skills of local students or those that are important to the future of your industry.