Jess's story
A year-long placement as a Junior Editor at Cyjax, a cyber security company, helped Jess to prepare for graduate roles and developed her confidence.
Why were you interested in doing an placement, and why did you choose your specific placement role?
I was interested in doing a placement because I was unsure of my next steps after graduating
from university. I found that by gaining some experience I could narrow down my interests
and gain some new skills. I chose my specific placement because it combined my interest in
editing whilst also offering a new topic which I had never studied before, namely cyber.
How did you find out about your placement? What was the application/interview process like? What support did you receive from the Careers Service?
When applying for my role as a Junior Editor, I had to undertake a few interviews. The first few
were more informal chats about what I wanted to gain from the role/what skills I already had
whilst the last one finished with me being formally offered the role. I received check-ins via
email from the Careers Service during my placement and attended some mid-placement
workshops to discuss how work was going. The Careers Service had also been in touch via
email before and after the process, specifically to help with things like finding job roles when I
initially began my search for a placement.
What skills have you learned or developed?
I do believe that taking a placement has helped prepare me for a graduate role, particularly
because it showed me what a standard workday entails outside of university. I was able to
develop my confidence during my placement, as well as improving my other skills such as
communication and organisation.