Tayyibah Uddin is a current Computer Science student at King’s College London. In this entry of Global Placement Stories, Tayyibah Uddin talks about how they went from a student attending a KCL Employer speed meet to a becoming a representative at the same speed meet!
Why I decided to take a placement year
Around this time a year ago I joined a KCL Employer Speed meet as a second year Computer Science student; It turned out to be a great session and I was surprised by the variety of companies that hosted placements and the opportunities they offered. I also had little idea on what I wanted to do after graduating, so being able to dedicate a year to growing my skills, exploring different options and building new connections felt like an amazing idea. I started to take the application process more seriously and attended networking sessions to get a better idea of what was on offer.
My tips on the application process
I think it’s important to not get overwhelmed by the application process, especially before you’ve begun. Hearing others are sending off 50+ applications while you’re currently drowning in deadlines and weeks behind on lecture material can put you off from trying. It’s definitely better to get started early, so try not to procrastinate on sending them off , but once you get past your first one and stop comparing your progress to others, the rest become much easier.
To keep track of all the job listings, I’d recommend creating some sort of a tracker. I used Notion with links to each application and their closing dates so I would receive reminders ahead of time. KCL Global Placement offers great CV support specifically for us, so definitely take advantage of it!
What has my placement experience been like?
So far, I have had an incredible experience at Vodafone. I work with colleagues from across the world who have been supportive in my growth, not just as an employee at the company but also as an individual.
I am working in the API and Microservices department and I have joined a Scrum team, so it’s been really cool to see how concepts and theories I learned at KCL are applied in industry. I am given work that challenges me, and I’m encouraged to share my own ideas and step out of my comfort zone. I feel like my confidence has greatly benefitted as a result.
One of my favourite experiences was attending the KCL Employer Speed meet again this year, except this time on the other side, as a representative of Vodafone.
I would recommend a placement year to absolutely everyone – even if you don’t land a place or you’re still not 100% sure, the application experience alone will build up your skills in the long term and make applying for grad schemes and jobs much easier.