Professional experience year

Discover the benefits of choosing a professional experience year or placement and what it involves.

Jump to a section of this page to find out more:

• Professional experience options
• What is a placement?
• Finding a professional experience or placement
• Benefits of professional experience
• During and after your professional experience or placement

Professional experience options

You will have 2 options to choose from during your professional experience year:

Work Placement - Find out more in our Student Professional Experience Handbook (PDF, 1.5MB)

Enterprise Academy - Find out more on our Enterprise Academy page

What is a placement?

A placement is an extended period of work experience undertaken by university students as part of a degree course which includes real-world professional experience. A placement year typically lasts for between 9 and 12 months, and supplements a student's academic studies with actual industry exposure.

Professional experience placements are different from internships. Although their overarching purpose is the same, an internship could be as short as a week, whereas a placement lasts anywhere from 9 months to a year. To take the professional experience pathway, you need to secure a paid industry placement, not an internship.

If you are a student or employer interested in placements, check out our handbooks:

Student Professional Experience Handbook (PDF, 1.5MB)

Work Placement Guidance Handbook for Employers (PDF, 1MB)

For further information about the structure of professional experience placements and how you could benefit by participating in one, email our Careers and Enterprise Coordinator Eseosa Agho at e.agho@yorksj.ac.uk.

Key dates

There are no set dates for the placement. Placements normally commence between February and September of each year depending on when you resume your first semester.

Finding a professional experience or placement

When beginning your search for a professional experience placement, consider the following steps.

1. Identify your areas of interest, and audit your experience. Aligning your personal profile with your career aims will help you to refine the focus of your placement search.
2. Make sure your CV is up to date, error-free and showcases your relevant skills and experience to potential employers.
3. Polish your LinkedIn profile. Having an active LinkedIn profile is an essential part of your job search strategy. Ensure that the information you've included matches your CV, and that it's oriented towards the type of role you're looking for.
4. Apply early. There are strict deadlines for securing a placement, so don't leave it until the last minute. Students on Professional Experience courses are expected to secure and start placements during winter (January to February) and summer (July to August).
5. Visit job sites regularly. Placement opportunities are often short-lived, so build a job search into your daily schedule.

Recommended search platforms

• Rate My Placement
• Student Circus
• Total Jobs
• Indeed
• Prospects
• CV Library
• LinkedIn Jobs
• Bright Network
• Gradcracker
• Debut Careers
• Target Jobs
• Milkround

As a York St John University student, you can also access job vacancies through the platform Handshake.

We're here to support you in finding a placement. We provide 1 to 1 consultations and follow up sessions to discuss your progress.

Book a placement appointment

Prepare well, be confident and apply early. Remember we are here to support you!

Benefits of a professional experience placement

Although optional, taking a work placement is a great way to develop your existing professional skills, and acquire new ones. It's also an opportunity to expand your professional network, get insights into specific industries, and ultimately enhance your long-term career prospects.

A professional experience placement:

• Is an opportunity to experience the world of work, and explore organisations and jobs before embarking on your post-graduation career.
• Strengthens your CV and boosts your appeal to prospective future employers.
• Gives you the scope to experience diverse organisational cultures and get a deeper understanding of workplace dynamics.
• Allows you to translate theory into practice by applying what you've learned in the classroom to the workplace.
• Develops key professional skills such as time management, business correspondence, project management, public relations and teamwork.

During and after your professional experience or placement

Once you have secured a placement, please share the required document on Handshake. We will provide you with details on attendance monitoring and how you should keep in touch with us throughout your placement year. You will need to send us your signed attendance sheet every 2 weeks, coordinated with your placement supervisor.

After finishing your placement you will only be a step away from graduation, and from stepping out into the real world of work.

Students on a course with a placement year are required to submit either a Business Consultancy Project, dissertation or applied research work at the end of the experience. The type of reflection you submit will be dependent on your course of study. Please check with your Academic Director for further details.