What You Should Consider Before Taking A Placement Year

There's a lot about a placement year that sounds appealing like making money, having a job, gaining experience, no university...etc. However, it's important that you consider all that a placement year entails. Here's what you need to know!

There’s a lot of things that seem appealing about a placement year- money, experience and increased employability. Although, money is probably the main one. However, taking a year in industry shouldn’t be a decision taken lightly. So many things need to be thought about, and these thoughts may be what keeps you at uni, or heads you off to the unknown. Here are some things to consider:

1. Where and who will you live with when you return to uni?

The chances are there might be none of your pals left when you make the move back to uni. Unless someone’s doing a masters, you’ll either end up in an expensive studio apartment or in a house share where you have to make friends all over again. This might sound appealing, or it might sound like first-year hell part 2.

2. Where and who will you live with when you go?

Will you go home, will you try to stay near your uni pals, or will you go somewhere completely unknown? And who will you stay with? Perfect for adventure seekers with zero fear, and terrifying for the more anxious of us.

3. Is a break from education a good idea?

Everybody’s different, and everybody has a different approach to education. You might excel and be able to jump right back into it, or you might return and have forgotten how to read and write. If the latter sounds like you, moving away from the uni environment even briefly might compromise the grade you come out with.

4. Can you handle the stress?

Anybody who’s done it will say it. Trying to find a placement is stressful and time-consuming AF. Deadlines combined with perfecting your CV, attending interviews, and constantly checking your emails for replies is a recipe for student overload that some of us might find waaaay too hard to cope with. And it lasts for a long time.

5. Do you really know what you want to do?

Unless you’re considering your placement as a step towards your future career, I’d advise leaving it aside. It’s a year, and if you do something entirely unrelated to your future dream life, it’s a year wasted.

6. Will FOMO get you down?

The main downside of a placement year is by far saying goodbye to your uni pals and the student lifestyle. No more lazy days midweek, and no more going out midweek. The upside is that dissertations take over in third year- so your friends will be doing much less of that anyway.

7. How quickly do you want to qualify?

A placement year adds on a year to your degree, so if you just want to do uni, get it over with, and head into employment, this probably isn’t for you. Especially when you spend the next summer watching all your mate’s graduate.

8. And… did you really think this wouldn’t cost a thing?

Student loans are up there with one of the worst things ever, and placement years will only add to it. Although the cost is likely to be significantly less than the current £9,250 per year, it will still add to what you owe. Nothing is free kids.