On 17^_th May 2018, I was asked to accompany our Sales & Marketing Director, Stuart McLaren, to the annual PlaceNet Conference held at The Grosvenor Hotel, London. This event brings universities and placement providers together with a common goal to improve their placement services. The agenda for the day was filled with lots of influential speakers, postgraduate students and undergraduate students, and was focused around helping students develop their careers.

My role on the day was to be part of a student/placement panel. This was a section of the day where employers and career departments could ask any questions regarding university, placements, and the challenges and opportunities that come with these. I sat alongside 3 others who were also students on a placement year. Many questions were answered within our time slot; everything from starting the initial application process, interviews, tests and assessment centres to my experience on my placement here at ProspectSoft. We took it in turn to answer each question and expressed our own opinions and experiences. It was great to be sat on a panel with other students who came from other companies and universities to hear their personal experiences. This was also a great chance to enhance my skills such as thinking on the spot, giving constructive feedback and my presentation skills.

Having our lunch included at the hotel was a much-appreciated bonus! Not only was I stuffing my face with free food, it also gave me the opportunity to meet lots of new people and network with some of the speakers I’d seen in presentations earlier in the day. Overall, the day gave me a brilliant insight into what the placement process is like from different perspectives. It presented a clear picture of desirable traits which are required in young professionals today. I now understand which skills I should build upon to be more employable to kickstart my postgraduate career.

All in all, it was a great day for me to attend. Many of the talks were from students discussing their journeys and how they are now helping other students. For example, some recent postgraduates are developing an application to assist more international students in the UK to find placements and postgrad work opportunities, and ex-placements who shared their successful career journeys after their placement year. Also, our own Sales & Marketing Director gave a speech on his top advice on how to develop a great placement application process and attract more students to SMEs. I had a great time at the PlaceNet Conference this year and really enjoyed listening and engaging with universities, companies and like-minded students, sharing our thoughts and experiences from an array of different placement schemes.