How to Balance Placement Hunting While at Uni

It’s a real talent to be able to balance both placement applications and your second year of university. Keeping track of companies, assignments, roles, lectures and even making time to be with friends and family is a lot. 

There are probably a whole bunch of questions swirling around your head right now: How do I do it? When can I fit in me-time? What role did I apply for again? Trust me, I asked myself all these questions, and more, when I was applying for a placement.

It’s so important to take the time to plan so you don’t stress yourself out. Read on for some tips on how to slay your uni life and manage your placement applications.

• Know What You Want
• Know Your Uni Deadlines
• Company Cheat Sheet
• Don’t Compete with Those Around You
• Schedule Time for Your Friends, Family and Yourself

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Know What You Want

Have a look around and see which companies you like the look of.

RateMyPlacement’s ‘Register Your Interest’ feature is a great place to start. You’ll see jobs before anyone’s for roles that take your fancy, and we’ll let you know when the application period goes live. We also regularly post stories with current ‘Register Your Interest’ Roles on our Instagram @RateMyPlacement_offical (give us a follow while you’re over there!). 

This can help you prepare your application ahead of time so as soon as that window opens you can submit your application.

Also, you’re allowed to be selective! Don’t just apply for a company because you can think about yourself in that role and environment. Would you enjoy it? If the answer is no, there’s probably a role a lot more fitting for you out there.

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Know Your Uni Deadlines

Deadlines tend to creep up on you. To avoid the jumpscare, as soon as you know when you have to hand in your assignments or do an exam, write it down. Have a list of them above your desk, have them down on your calendar, and do whatever you need to do to make sure you don’t forget about them. 

Make a plan of action for when you do want to start writing your assignments or revising for your exams. There’s never any harm in starting early either.

If you’ve got a RateMyPlacement account (which we 20000% recommend, obvi), you can keep track of all your applications and your saved companies and roles all in the same place. 

I know I STRUGGLED to keep track of where all my applications were, even more so if it was a portal that needed a login and password (also my fault for never writing down the passwords).

If you’re still struggling with stress, read our blog on how to manage stress during university.

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Company Cheat Sheet

It’s really easy to lose track of what the company does, what values they hold and what you’ve applied for. And, what makes the whole process even harder is that sometimes you have to wait months in between application stages which can result in you forgetting what you’ve applied for.

So to help you keep track, we’ve put together a FREE company cheat sheet for you to fill in during your job search. We’ve included an example to get you started, don’t forget to delete it before you fill it in.

Some key things to keep note of about a company you’re applying for:

• What do they do?
• What are their values and how do they align with your own?
• What is the role you’re applying for?
• What does this role entail and how would your experience help you do it?
• Where is their office based?

Keeping a cheat sheet will make your application journey go so much smoother and you’ll be able to better manage those quick turnarounds! 

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Don’t Compete with Those Around You

Being around people who are also placement hunting is a double-edged sword. On one side, you get to share the highs and lows with those around you, but on the other, it might be hard to not see them as your competition. 

Just because one person secured their placement in September doesn’t mean you are behind. Always do your best, but don’t push yourself to be at someone else’s best.

Keep doing what you need to do, attend your lectures, take time for yourself and apply for the roles that take your fancy. Never bring yourself down because you see other people handling placement applications and uni differently. There’s not one right way to deal with this year. 

Just keep going at the pace that works for you.

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Schedule Time for Your Friends, Family and Most Importantly Yourself

Putting together a burnt-out job seeker and a burned-out student into one person is never ideal. These two negatives, unfortunately, don’t make a positive. 

So, it’s crucial that you make that time for yourself and the people you love. Even if it’s just going for coffee with your friend, calling your family on your journey back from uni, putting on your guilty pleasure film while you cook dinner or getting yourself a sweet treat for simply waking up (I recommend all of the above). 

Small acts of self-love go a long way so please prioritise them if you still find yourself struggling. Find out more:

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Whatever you do, don’t be too hard on yourself. Placement hunting and going to uni is so difficult and as long as you’re making it through, that’s all that counts. 

Always reach out to your uni career officers, uni wellbeing team, friends and family for extra support if you need it. There’s never any shame in asking for help.

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