What Can I Learn From a Finance Placement?

A finance placement is an opportunity to apply your academic interests and knowledge within a practical corporate environment. If you take up a finance placement, you’ll be well positioned to learn more about your subject from a professional standpoint.

Why do a finance placement?

Aside from the professional experience that benefits your career prospects, it’s a chance to put theory to practice. When you go back to university for your final year, you’ll be equipped with relevant, transferable skills and technical know-how that will help you to stand out to potential employers in the graduate job market.

Begin your network…

Part of the benefit of a finance placement is the ability to get a real taste for a particular role and what’s available in the graduate careers market. It’s a brilliant chance to meet people who are already well on their way in the career you want to pursue, and get developmental advice on how to advance in the industry. If you’re less sure about where you see yourself in the near future, you can use the finance placement to learn what it’s like to do a particular job on a daily basis, or gain exposure to a variety of areas within an organisation.

You may also have the chance to meet with recent graduates and get tips on how to break into the industry or progress in a particular area. Employers often use placements as a way of recruiting future graduates, so if you make a good impression, it could lead to a job after you graduate.

At the very least, a finance placement is an ideal way to network and make contacts that will be useful when you come to apply for permanent positions. Make the most of it and it’ll be far easier when the time comes to collect references and hear of potential jobs before other people.

Develop your professionalism…

Completing long placements in a corporate environment for over nine months can also lead to achieving a Diploma in Professional Practice, which will look great on a CV. Real work experience is a fantastic opportunity to build professional confidence and learn new skills that you can use as a framework for your job applications further down the line. In some placement opportunities relating to accountancy, you could even study and sit some of the necessary exams to build up to a professional qualification, which puts you well ahead of the game!