It can be difficult knowing where to look for a placement opportunity, and it is best to cast the net as widely as you can, so here are our top recommendations to access great live placement vacancies. 

• My Jobs Online – the university’s jobs board 

• Rate My Placement 

• Bright Network 

• Gradcracker - Careers for STEM Students 

• targetjobs: Graduate Jobs, Schemes & Internships 

• Milkround: Graduate Jobs, Schemes & Internships 

• Indeed 

• EmployAbility - Internships, graduate programmes & events

Top Tip: Remember to set up job alerts which will let you know when a placement is posted that matches your interests! 

• There's some excellent advice about application forms on Essentials

• Prospects have some great advice on writing a strong job application on their website

Top Tip: Booking a placement appointment to get your application looked over can make all the difference! 

Looking for advice on how to write a great CV and cover letter? 

• Check out the CVs page on Essentials for some top tips 

• The Careers team have a great page on cover letters

• Prospect's CV and cover letter advice

• RateMyPlacement's Placement & Work Experience CV Template & Guide

• RateMyPlacement's Writing A Placement & Work Experience Cover Letter

• Indeed's CVs & Cover Letter advice

• Thinking about how to boost your CV during the holidays? Head to RateMyPlacement's website for advice

Top Tip: Why not attend a CV workshop in the summer term, or spend some time on Careers 24/7 looking over some CV workshop screencasts? 

• The Careers team's guide to interviews

• Example questions and answers by Prospect

• A guide on how to ace an interview (with tips and examples) 

• What to expect in an interview (in-depth guide with tips)

• Phone interviews: how to do well

• Video interviews: how to do well

• Graduate Coach's Questions to ask in an interview (always prepare some questions to ask the employer at the end of an interview!)

• The Career's team's guide to assessment centres

• Have you tried Graduates First? You can find lots of interview and assessment centre tests, as well as online recruitment tests to practice!

Top Tip: Graduates First has some brilliant information on the interview processes for many organisations, an interview question identifier tool, and in some cases the types of questions asked at interview, to help get you prepared.

In this section, we have provided links to some free online courses. If you have a spare hour here and there, why not complete a free online course? You can really boost your CV this way, and you will gain some fantastic new skills which will make you stand out to employers and placement providers. 

• LinkedIn Learning has a wide range of online courses and while you’re at university – they are free so take advantage!  If you have a spare 30 mins, why not take an online course that you can add to your CV? 

• Alison Learning gives you access to lots of free online courses to help you upskill yourself! 

• Google Digital Garage is a brilliant resource. They have lots of free courses ranging in topics from digital marketing, to career development, and more! 

• Open Learn (part of the Open University) have a suite of free training courses to help you build new skills which you can add to your CV. 

• Future Learn also has a wide range of short courses that you can complete in your own time. 

Top Tip: Don’t forget to include any online course you do on your CV and also on your LinkedIn profile - it could really make a difference, and it shows that you are keen to learn! 

Speculative approaches can be used if you want to approach an employer to ask if they have the capacity and interest to create an opportunity for you. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘hidden job market’. Whilst this approach takes lots of confidence, lots of students have secured placements previously (both short and year-long), through a speculative approach. 

• Not sure how to approach an employer? Prospects have some useful advice on how to navigate these situations

• The Careers Team's advice on speculative applications

• Speculative cover letter advice from Prospects

Top Tip: It is crucial to do research before you make a speculative application. Use the information you find in your research to help position yourself as a benefit to the organisation, giving strong examples of motivation and why you would be a really great person to hire. Always follow up on a speculative application and personalise your email using a named person, rather than dear Sir/Madam. 

• Not sure what applying for a placement will involve? Find out more about the 10 Stages of Applying for a Placement on RateMyPlacement's website

• Advice for working from home

• Resilience - How to bounce back in a tough job market

These resources are designed to help you, however we would suggest booking an appointment with a Placement Coordinator or Careers Consultant, as they will be able to provide tailored feedback on your applications, and support you with your placement search. 

If you have any questions, you can contact the Placements Team on placements@reading.ac.uk and we will be happy to help.