Mollie Phillips is a current Chemistry with Biomedicine student at King’s College London. In this entry of Global Placement Stories, Mollie Phillips demonstrates how she landed a role outside of her field, and her tips on how to land your desired placement!
Tips for securing a placement
- Start as soon as possible
- Look at the desirable skills in the job description – how can you show interest in this
or develop some understanding? - Focus on your strengths and make them stand out on your LinkedIn profile
My advice would be to start looking for placements very early and be applying around November. Save all the ones you are interested in and rank them based on which placements interest you the most. Then start to apply and complete some tests for those at the bottom of the list as some good practice.
If one of your higher ranked placement schemes have python or excel as a desirable skill, do a LinkedIn learning course on these topics and make it visible in your profile. This way, it shows the employer how interested and motivated you are to learn for the role. Technical skills can be taught but attitude and determination cannot.
Be active on your LinkedIn: follow companies in industries that interest you, comment and share posts you can relate to and don’t be afraid to share some advice/experiences as someone out there in your network may find it useful!
Placement experience
As a Chemistry student, I really didn’t think I’d be accepted into Lloyd’s Banking Group, learning Power Bi, Power Automate and data analysis. I didn’t have any of these skills when I applied, but what I did have was an interest to learn and grow. The best advice I can give you is to be curious: ask questions, be proactive. Love learning and show that you go out of your way to develop new skills that will benefit your future. Show you are also proactive in relationships, as growing your network will be invaluable later in your career.
And a placement isn’t just about working and earning money. It’s about the people you meet, how you influence each other to grow and the legacy you leave behind. Here is a picture of a committee I was able to be a member of: the IP Planning Committee. We are the first ever IP group organising development-related events so placement students all over the UK can come together, network and be inspired to make the most out of their placement.
Take every opportunity, go out of your comfort zone and talk to as many people as you can!