Science & Engineering Placements Bootcamp 2021-22

Posted on: 14 December 2021 by Olga Chatzidaki in Connections in action

A three-day initiative designed to connect students with perspective placement employers.

The University of Liverpool’s Science & Engineering Placements Bootcamp is a regular fixture on the respective calendars of both Careers & Employability and the Faculty of Science & Engineering.  Taking place shortly before the beginning of the academic year, the three-day Bootcamp aims to provide insight, advice, and support to  2^nd-year students as they prepare to embark upon a period of searching & applying for a year in industry placement opportunities. Alongside sessions delivered by Careers & Employability and by academics from the Faculty, the event also features a series of industry-insight panels in which prospective placement providers engage with students in order to showcase their organisation & opportunities.  Students from a range of the Faculty’s Schools and Departments are invited to participate in the Bootcamp, all looking for opportunities to make connections, build networks, and get hired into placement roles.

Event aims

The Bootcamp aimed to expose students to a range of employers who were recruiting for placements in 2022 and to prepare them for competitive recruitment processes. Sessions created & delivered by the Careers & Employability team offered advice & guidance on searching for opportunities, provided an overview of typical application processes, explored what recruiters look for in successful applicants, and demonstrated how students could exercise resilience amidst competitive application processes.   A panel of past placement students was also assembled, in order to offer insights into ‘a day in the life of a placement student’.  Industry insights were provided via a series of employer panel events, themed around the students’ degree disciplines – Chemistry, Computer Science, Electronics, Engineering, Maths, and Physics.

Input from Employers

Drawing upon industry insights and securing employer input is key to the success of extra-curricular employability events. Fifteen organisations participated in the 2021-22 event, across its four industry-insight panels – some were new to the event and others were returning, keen to continue the virtuous cycle of participation, attraction, & recruitment. The panel sessions invited employer representatives to introduce themselves & their organisation and to give the student audience an insight into the relevant placement opportunities available for them to apply to.  Each session ended with a Q&A. Participating employer representatives reported that “Students asked valuable questions demonstrating their interest” and commented on the enduring success of extra-curricular activities such as these: “Nice to be part of the session. We've taken lots of Liverpool graduates and undergraduates and they are really talented. Keep up the good work UoL!”

 Student feedback

Open to all placement-eligible 2^nd-year students across the Faculty of Science & Engineering, the Placements Bootcamp attracted 140 students – their attendance in this extra-curricular event taking place outside of the academic year being testament to their enthusiasm & ambitions. All students who provided feedback commented that they felt more confident in their ability to search & apply for placements as a result of attending. Asked about their favourite part of the event, it was clear that students appreciated insights from industry and past placement students which confirms that this is an ideal way for the Employer Connections Team to bring students and employers together.

A new approach to Employer Engagement

The well-established Science & Engineering Placements Bootcamp continues to evolve & grow, providing students from across a range of the Faculty’s degree disciplines with a key contact point with Careers & Employability, past placement-students, and industrial representatives present a valuable way of engaging with an ambitious & enthusiastic cohort of students prior to the start of the academic year, giving recruiters a platform to raise awareness of & generate interest in their organisations and placement opportunities. The feedback from this year’s 140 student attendees and 15 employers demonstrates the success of the event and emphasises the value of participating.

The Employer Connections Team are keen to support & encourage extra-curricular – as well as curriculum-embedded – engagements such as these throughout the academic year, and welcome opportunities to establish & develop relationships with early-careers recruiters. If you’re interested in engaging with University of Liverpool students & graduates in relation to your organisation & opportunities, please register to Handshake and contact our Employer Engagement Team