Offer a Placement

Another way that you can make a difference is by offering work placements or internships to help Aston students gain valuable work experience.

At Aston, we encourage all undergraduate students to take the opportunity to gain valuable work experience by completing a sandwich placement year as part of their course.  Over 70% of our students take up a sandwich placement as part of their studies both in the UK and overseas. They require paid and unpaid work placements for up to a year.

As part of the service to employers, we have a centralised Employability and Placement team who are able to advise on any aspects of employing an Aston student.  Students are available to go out on placement from all degree programmes.

What are the benefits to employers?

Approximately 30% of companies offer their placement students a job on graduation. Therefore the placement programme is a very efficient and cost-effective way for employers to recruit graduates.

In addition, you may also benefit from having a fresh pair of eyes along with new and innovative ideas. This extra resource can provide input into projects which may be on your 'wish list' of projects to get off the ground.

If you decide to offer an Aston student a placement, we would ask you to:

• treat the student as you would any other employee 
• give them real responsibility 
• appoint a supervisor for the student 
• set clear objectives for the year and monitor the student's progress 
• give students the opportunity to develop their skills 
• support the student with their coursework. 

How much does it cost?

You will incur no recruitment advertising or agency costs and you will be getting an intelligent, motivated student. We can provide access for you to upload your vacancies directly onto our vacancy database.

Furthermore, we can arrange facilities for you to use on campus, free of charge, to give presentations about placement opportunities within your organisation. Similarly, should you wish to hold interviews on campus we can arrange these facilities for you too.

The average salary for one-year professional placements is approximately £14,000 per annum in the UK. However, outside the UK it varies in each country.

Contact us

To find out how your business could benefit from taking on an Aston University student contact the Employer Engagement Professionals in the Placements Team on 0121 204 5299 or email placements@aston.ac.uk for more information.

The Careers and Employability Centre also offers employers the chance to advertise graduate opportunities, short term (work experience less than 6-12 months) and summer placements, via the online vacancy service. Further information can be found here.