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Gap Year Placements

Year 13

Why consider a paid gap year placement?

In today’s competitive environment, strong academic results are rarely sufficient. You are probably a high achieving student with a clutch of A*’s at GCSE and expecting A’s and A* at A ‘level. You think this is sufficient to gain you a place at a first class university. You may be right. But you need to think broader than this. Because this will not necessarily be enough when it comes to securing an internship or graduate position at a premier employer.

“There are thousands of students who will excel in their A-levels, attend top-notch universities and pursue an impressive string of extracurricular activities. Add to this those international students who also speak several languages fluently. Without something to differentiate yourself, you will look like one of many able students.”

Stand Out

You therefore need to pull ahead early. You need to stand out from the others. You need to differentiate yourself. The one thing that employers value is work experience. However this does not include bar work, working in a shop or in a ski resort. It means working in a responsible job in a corporate environment.

A 6-8 month work experience placement will make your CV or application form stand out from the crowd and differentiate you from others. Also the work experience and skills you will have gained will provide you with a head start at any interview, giving you lots of examples to draw from.  It will basically put you ahead of the game. All initial interviews are competency based. This means they want you to provide real examples of when you showed initiative, when you worked under pressure, when you worked in a team, etc. Being able to draw from 6 months in a working environment will provide you with superior examples of theses skills and competencies allowing you to outshine other candidates.

Gain an early advantage

In addition, if you decide you enjoy the industry and company you have worked for in your gap year, this will give you an inbuilt advantage with them when it comes to the fierce competition around summer placements and gradate roles.

“It is far less competitive to gain a gap year place with one of the leading global organisations listed,
than it is to gain a graduate role with them when there are so many more applicants per role.”

In addition, the work experience advantage you will have built into your CV at 18, will give you an immediate competitive advantage in securing summer and spring internships over other candidates, which will in turn leave you better positioned for those final graduate roles. It will also provide you something substantive for your personal statement on your UCAS form and again make you look different from others, increasing your chances of securing a place at a leading university.

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 Who offers PAID gap year placements?

Irrespective of what you plan to study at university, any of the gap year placements listed below will be of enormous value to you, so do not worry too much about which industry they are in. They will give you invaluable long-term work experience in a corporate environment, enhancing your skills and your CV. They will also pay you very well, funding any travel plans you may have.

Be aware that many firms will require you to complete online tests before they review your application form. Therefore it is vital you gain some practice before you attempt the real thing. Take a look HERE for advice and practice papers.

Information on: INTERVIEWING SKILLS

Information on: WRITING A CV AND COVERING LETTER

information on: ASSESSMENT CENTRES

  • EY Smart Futures Gap Year Placement

    UK Wide
    • Gap Year Placement
    • EY Smart Futures offers you an opportunity to have a great paid experience of work. It is a ten month programme starting with paid work experience in the summer or Easter. The paid work experience begins with interactive sessions and opportunities to work with different types of businesses. You will learn new skills that will help […]

  • City Year Gap Year Placement

    London, Birmingham
    • Gap Year Placement
    • City Year is a leading youth and education charity and a beacon for a volunteer service year. They raise the attainment of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and give volunteers the skills to make a success of their lives after City Year. City Year recruits 18-to-25-year-olds for 11 months of full-time volunteering as near-peer role models, mentors […]

  • PGL Gap Year Placement

    PGL
    UK, France, Spain
    • Gap Year Placement
    • PGL provide residential activity holidays and educational courses for children. There are 26 activity centres across UK, France and Spain. These cater for school trips, activity holidays, group residentials for clubs such as scouts, guides, brownies, youth clubs etc and family activity holidays.  They offer a 34 week paid programme and during that time, train you […]

  • Cambridge Consultants: Technology Scholarship Scheme

    UK Wide
    • Gap Year Placement
    • Cambridge Consultants develops breakthrough products, creates and licenses intellectual property, and provides business consulting in technology critical issues, for clients world-wide. Since 1990, they have provided industrial experience in a wide range of technical disciplines for students intending to go on to university to obtain degrees in technical subjects. In addition to spending a gap […]

  • IBM Gap Year Placement

    UK Wide
    • Gap Year Placement
    • IBM is the world’s largest IT and consulting services company. They offer 2 gap year programmes – one business and the other technical. They are both 12 months in length. Business Placement: Spend your gap year in a business role and you’ll be supporting one of IBMs many business areas, such as Project Management, business operations, […]

  • YINI Programme Gap Year Placement

    KLC School of Design
    UK Wide, variety of companies
    • Gap Year Placement
    • The YINI programme is a well-established scheme helping A ‘level students find work placements during their gap year. It is run by EDT (Engineering Development Trust) and is aimed mainly at engineering, science, IT and finance students. They have 300 partner companies who they work with who offer placements. About 25% of the students who participate are […]

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