It was really good to see how the skills we learn at uni are applicable in the job world

Where was your placement and what did it involve?

My placement year was at Wessex Rivers Trust (WRT), which I absolutely loved. I chose my placement due to the variety of tasks I would be given. This was anything from creating maps using GIS, to educating people about the value of our chalk streams to physical river restoration and going on water vole surveys. This gave me the opportunity to see just some of the work that goes into protecting and restoring our habitats. 

What skills do you feel that you gained from your placement?

Getting to try out so many different things has definitely helped to give me more of an idea of what part of conservation I want to get into. I now know I absolutely love working with the volunteers but that is something I had not previously considered. Having experience on my CV is also definitely going to give me a bit of an edge when it comes to applying for jobs in the future, as well as knowing the sector better and understanding what they are looking for. 

GIS is one of the things that I think is only going to become increasingly important and I was very happy I had learnt some GIS before going on my placement year, as it was an incredibly useful skill to have as I often used it. It was really good to see how the skills we learn at uni are applicable in the job world, but also the different ways places use GIS. I also feel like my placement year really improved my time management skills as I tended to go into the office and work a 9-5, but I also had to juggle lots more tasks with shorter deadlines. 

How did you find your placement?

I managed to get my placement through hours upon hours of trawling through the internet looking on different job sites, reading articles and endless scrolling through linkedin. I emailed a lot of places I didn’t hear back from, or just said no. I pushed through and some organisations were willing to have a meeting with me. 

What advice would you give to students who are thinking about doing a placement?

To any students thinking about applying for placement years just go for it. Apply to as many different places as possible then in the end if you decide you don’t want to do it you can always say no, but it was a fantastic experience and I learnt loads.