A Universal Debate // Study Abroad vs Placements

Hello again!

I just want to start off by thanking everyone their kind comments on my last post! I felt very vulnerable putting it up but I have never received so much love and support for something I have posted so thank you!

In today’s post I want to discuss what many people will be going through this time of year and that is whether you should apply to study abroad for a year, take a placement or continue to your final year at university.

I’m going to start off with my own experience, as it did not end how I expected. I started applying to placements in December 2017 and over the course of eight months I applied to numerous vacancies, went through several interview processes and got my hopes up a handful of times. This hunt took over everything during my summer resulting in me putting a lot of things on hold, including getting a part time role as I didn’t want to get a job and then leave if I had a placement…leaving me poor and bored.

Now then, it gets interesting when I went to a 12-hour field interview for a marketing company based in north London. This was the most intense procedure I had been through and when I was accepted for the role I was extremely grateful. However, this was not a marketing placement…at all. It entailed of me standing on the street and enticing members of the public to buy into the service we were selling. Standing on our feet for 12 hours a day and it was all commission based. I am not saying anything against the company or the role that they par-take, but this is not the marketing role as advertised. I expected to be in an office environment, learning on the job and boosting skills to benefit me in a later marketing role. With all this said, I quit on the second day and continued my search.

The deadline to find a placement was August 2018 and in the end, I came to the decision to return to university and complete my final year. Although it took me a while to come around to the idea, I realised I wouldn’t be completely alone as I still had some of the girls at uni and I would be able to stay in London with my family and boyfriend which would be a big benefit having been far away from them for two years.

Now then, let’s compare the two options. I spoke to 3 being doing a placement and 3 on study abroad, all with varying experiences and answering these questions.

So let's get into it...

The biggest difficulty of each.

So the struggles of both processes varies, from the length it takes to be accepted, deciding where to go and keeping the motivation up. A common misconception as said by Tommy Morris now completing a placement as an undergraduate analyst, is that you soon realise there are many more people applying for the same roles. “For instance in my first role, there were nearly 3,000 applicants for only 120 internships.” That’s a significant amount of people to be turned away and return to their job hunt. Of course, both study abroad applications and placement hunts take place during term time and data management sales associate Harry Sanders of Aston University stated that it was a struggle to juggle this search whilst prioritising exams and other academic pledges. 

Study abroad students found difficulties in various things and I spoke to three students from the University of Hertfordshire. Now living in Australia, Canada and America my previous housemates established that there was little time to prepare by the time their applications were completed, which is something I can definitely vouch for as I remember going home one day and Victoria Nelson now studying as Lismore University saying “Oh yeah I think I fly next month.” A month to prepare yourself for Australia?! 

Research.

Obviously this is the biggest part of any new adventure, especially when looking for a new country to live in or for a company which you will be with for 12 months+. The amount of research done depends on each individual but a common theme from those I spoke to was that they didn’t do enough. Both Tommy and Harry believed they should have started earlier, used more job sites as well as researching more related roles to deepen their options.

In terms of doing little or too much research, this may not be key for all though, as Emily Ball now studying at Kansas university stated ‘I personally wanted to go in knowing nothing’ so limited the amount she researched. Understandably this can add to the experience because I know that when I entered first year at Hertfordshire I went in blind, just like everyone else. So, this tactic can add to the natural feel of the experience lessoning any possible anxieties and fears which can build up from knowing and expecting certain things.

Application time.

The length of both processes differs person by person, Hannah Morgan-Johnson now studying at Quelth University (Canada) said it only took two months for her application to successfully go through, but Emily Ball said it felt much longer than that as she came across multiple complications to be discussed later. 

Placements can often take 6-9 months to come through due to the excessive numbers of people applying to each role. Nicole Whelan, who is completing a placement in Marketing was late to the party as she only started looking for a placement in August which saw her get accepted a week before the deadline. Many people do get lucky with their placements as did Tommy Morris who received multiple offers and has actually left one placement in order to settle in his current one. And then there’s me with 0 offers and no placement…not bitter though.

Support from the university.

University support is something people don’t always receive off the bat. Almost everyone I spoke to said that support was hard to get to and not offered throughout the process. Personally, if I wanted support then I had to go to them and even then, I didn’t leave feeling assured or safe in my options. One of the best things for support during this time, is to speak to people who have done it before! Having been there and done that, they have all of the hands on advice and previous experience to guide you in the right direction as well as giving you any do’s and don’ts. 

Best & worst experiences so far.

All in all, both of these options have a handful of pro’s and con’s as described by those I spoke to. Study abroad brings you new culture, new friends and new experiences you may not get in your own country. Although through all the highs there are a couple of lows, including missing home, trying to meet people in such as new and intimidating environment and lastly…poisonous snakes (in Australia that is.) 

An industrial placement brings you a taste of life after uni and each company of course has different perks. Harry Sanders was lucky enough to take part in a charity golf day at the prestigious course in Rickmansworth ‘The Grove’, however there are more professional benefits such as gaining experience in a full functioning working world and getting to work with big companies and having new responsibilities.

I hope you found this post enjoyable, although not relatable to everyone! The stress I experienced from trying to find a placement was excremental and I wish I had a deeper insight into the whole process before deciding to dedicate my whole summer to it! 

Until next time,

Shannon xx