Finding Placements
Finding placements
There are two main ways to find a placement year. Apply for advertised placements, and seek out hidden opportunities by networking and applying speculatively.
Getting inspiration
NU Work Experience Directory
If you’re curious to see where other students from your school have been on placement, you can browse our NU Work Experience Directory. Select ‘placement’ in the ‘Type of experience’ box and then pick your school from the drop down menu.
This is a useful resource if you’re looking for inspiration, as it shows the types of placements Newcastle University students have had in the last five years, and the employers they’ve worked for.
LinkedIn's Alumni tool allows you to gain inspiration, by looking at what Newcastle University graduates have done with a similar degree.
You can see where they’re located, which companies they work for, what they do, what they studied and what they’re skilled at.
Getting started
Our 14 minute presentation on 'How to find a year-long placement' covers:
- where to look for a year-long placement
- how to look most effectively
- where to find additional information and support
To view the presentation with subtitles, click the cc button in the player. You can also view a full screen version.
You can also use our Preparing to Find a Placement pathway before you begin searching and applying for placement years. You'll be guided through a number of levels and activities that we have identified as key in making sure you are ready for your placement search.
Advertised placements
The Careers Service advertises placements on MyCareer. Search for ‘placement’ under ‘vacancy types’ and sign up for personalised email alerts.
You can also use the following external websites to help you find a placement:
- Prospects – select ‘work experience’ under ‘types of jobs’
- targetjobs
- Bright Network - search for industrial placements
- RateMyPlacement – includes student reviews
- Student Ladder – lists placement opportunities for first, second and final year students
- Milkround - includes year long placement opportunities within the internships section
- TheJobCrowd – select ‘placement’ under ‘job type’
- AllAboutCareers: Placements
- Jobted
- The Big Choice.com: Placements
- Graduate-Jobs.com: Internships
- E4S – placements in the UK and abroad
- STEP – UK wide project based work placements for students and graduates
- EmployAbility – advice and work experience opportunities specifically for disabled students
- Placement UK – paid placements for European students in the UK
- Instant Impact – opportunities with small and medium-sized enterprises
- Enternships – internships in entrepreneurial environments, including six month placements
- Indeed – you can use 'placement year' as part of your keyword search. Sign in to receive recommended jobs based on your interests.
Sector Specific
To find placements in a particular sector, visit Explore Occupations.
The Year In Industry website is a good starting point if you are looking for engineering or science placements.
For placements in finance, insurance and patents, try Inside Careers.
The Business School advertises year long placement opportunities on their Student Experience Blog.
Hidden opportunities
Not all placements are advertised. In fact, many people create work experience opportunities through networking and making contacts, or by developing their own business ideas.
If you have identified a company you would like to work for, you could try approaching them directly about possible opportunities. This is known as making a speculative application. Send them a tailored CV and covering letter, expressing your enthusiasm for the sector and showing that you have researched the company.
Where possible, identify a contact name to address your covering letter to. Call or email to find out who is responsible for recruitment within the organisation or a key contact in the department you want to work in.
It’s useful to follow up a speculative application with a phone call a few days afterwards to show you are serious and motivated.
TARGETjobs have a useful guide about making a speculative application to find hidden opportunities.
Finding companies
- Find organisations on MyCareer - click ‘Search' then 'Organisations’ to find companies the Careers Service has worked with. Can filter by keyword, sector and region.
- Researching employers – contains sources of company profiles and a list of business directories and databases
- Explore Occupations – find employer directories for specific sectors
- LinkedIn – an online networking tool allowing users to connect with professionals across all industries
- LinkedIn's Find Alumni tool can help you find organisations Newcastle graduates are working in
Overseas placements
Finding and arranging an overseas placement year can be complicated. Whether or not you can go abroad to a particular country will depend on a range of factors, including: travel restrictions, insurance, visa processes, covid-19 requirements and other risk factors.
If you’re considering doing a placement overseas, you will need to begin your research as early as possible.
To help you get started, we recommend that you:
- read through the university’s Global Opportunities pages. They’ve put together detailed information about the funding and immigration impact of Brexit and Covid-19
- check the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s travel advice for the country you’re interested in as a starting point.
- speak to the team managing your placement about where you want to go, and the type of work you want to do. Check if there are any restrictions, as university insurance may not allow travel to countries which appear to be approved by the FCDO. Find out if there are earlier deadlines you need to be aware of. The deadline to confirm overseas placements managed by the Careers Service is 27 May 2022
- research the visa process for the country you’re interested in. This is not always a straightforward process and can take a long time to arrange. Find the relevant UK based embassy for the country you’re interested in and speak to them directly. If you’re not a UK citizen, look for the relevant embassy based in your home country. Try to get any information or instructions they give you in writing, as it may come in useful during your visa application, or when you arrive in the country
- consider travel, accommodation, insurance and finance for your time overseas. You can use the information provided by Global Opportunities, including their Turing scheme information, as well as the country guides on GoinGlobal
If you’re an international student and you’re planning to do a placement in your home country, speak to the team managing your placement about your plans. They will still need to check whether your placement can be approved.
For resources to help you find overseas opportunities, visit our Global Work Experience pages.
Once you’ve confirmed your placement, the university has resources to help you prepare for working and living overseas. The team managing your placement, and Global Opportunities, will offer you support throughout your time abroad.