More and more employers are looking for experience as well as academic credentials. A work placement offers you the chance to gain valuable experience spending time working for an employer and carrying out duties or tasks as any other employee of the company would.

Work placements are useful at any point during you education and the more you undertake the more skills you will acquire and the more impressive your CV will look to a prospective employer.

Adding impressive things to your CV is not the only reason to undertake a work placement. They are great opportunities to speak directly to people who are already doing the job within their working environment. Their insider information on the job will give you a greater understanding of what it entails.

Work placements can also be used as a kind of taster session for your chosen career where you can weigh up the pros and cons and consider whether that job is for you. Work placements are usually voluntary and as such are unpaid.

In higher education there is an option of doing a sandwich course where your studies will be "sandwiched" around a work placement which often last a full year. This kind of course is ideal for matching academic learning with hands on experience on the job.

Most placements undertaken as part of a sandwich course are paid where most are unpaid, although in many cases you may get your expenses such as travel covered by the company. It is worth remembering though that the experience gained on a work placement will be much more valuable to you in the long run than short-term cash.