Sandwich Courses: All Filler Or A Recipe For Success?
They’re two sided coins, sandwich courses – on the one hand, they offer great experience, job opportunities, and other benefits. On the other, they can be incredibly difficult, painful, and hard. Seriously, sandwich courses can be terrifying. And they don’t come with free sandwiches (unless you’re lucky).
Let’s start on the positives, though. Here are a few things that you can expect to enjoy as a consequence of a sandwich course:
Job Opportunities
This is the main plus. And it is a big one – after all, that’s why people go to university; to get a decent job at the end of it all, right? If it isn’t, you should really re-evaluate your options. Sandwich courses allow students to gain invaluable experience in a real job, which makes them immensely attractive to employers everywhere – real, honest experience can’t practically be found anywhere outside the workplace. It’s a shame, but that’s the truth.
And the job opportunities can come from anywhere – the cushty one is, of course, at the placement itself. Many companies offer a graduate a good wage and a job straight off the bat from university as soon as they leave. This is, of course, the perfect scenario and what every sandwich course taker should hope for.
Other companies won’t exactly shy away from someone with experience, though – any industrial experience is much, much better than none, and anyone with even a whiff of know-how is much more likely to land a job than your bog-standard graduate. All it takes is one year away, and the offers may well come rolling in.
The Experience In Itself
Excuse us for getting a bit philosophical, but the experience of working in the industry is in itself an excellent reason to choose a sandwich course – one of the most difficult choices for a graduate is working out what jobs they’re actually interested in within their field. The academic side of construction and management, for example, will be very, very different from the applied reality. Work experience for a year is an excellent and invaluable way to dip a toe in and see if the temperature’s right.
It’s difficult to over-emphasise just how important it is to know what you want to do in your field after graduation – just strolling into the wrong job could result in a fair few years of boredom after getting a decent degree, which is the last thing anyone wants. The worst part is that it’s difficult to get out of your first professional job quickly without it looking bad on your CV. Employers after this won’t be too keen on employing someone who’s left their job before they should. It’s an issue, and working out what you want to do before you start looking for jobs is an excellent way to avoid it.
Pay
Oh, and there is, of course, the pay to consider. Generally a year in industry will pay a decent wage. This means that anyone coming from their year in industry will have a lot more cash to flash in their last year (if they save properly), and this is a huge advantage where the only thing a student should be worrying about is their grades.
A bit of money tucked away will also come in handy straight after graduation (of course), but this is secondary to making sure you’re comfortable when finishing your degree – most people only get one shot at a degree, and should prioritise that above all else. So when the choice comes between writing up an end-of-year-project and ordering a takeaway to save time or cooking up a big bowl of rice or even working an extra shift behind the bar; a bit of a nest-egg should help make those situations a lot easier and, hopefully, more productive.
Some Words Of Caution
So, generally, taking a sandwich year is a good thing – it gives a student an idea of where they want to steer their career, it vastly improves job prospects, and – if you’re careful – it earns a little bit of money which can be put to use as a bit of a safety net. However, there are a fair few downsides that are well worth remembering. Sorry, but that’s always the way it is – there’s no such thing as a free lunch outside Fresher’s week, and all of these great bonuses come with their downsides. Here they are.
It’s Really, Really Hard
Industrial options are not the easy options, generally: work hours will be long, difficult, and full of nasty surprises, and – horror of horrors – the day will start early.
Students on industrial leave are expected to arrive early, work very hard, and leave late. That’s why the companies employ students in research projects (if you’re lucky) or normal boring jobs – because they’re expected to work very hard in an advanced role for less money than a real, genuine employee might. Maybe this is a touch cynical, but there’s truth to it – if you choose to do an industrial year, expect to be working more or less constantly.
However, it does depend on the course – many courses don’t examinate their industrially released student at all, and instead inspect the results of a year-long research project offered to them by the placement company. The research project is a good way to start specialising in a topic, but that in itself can have its downsides (keep reading – you’ll see).
It’s Very Competitive
Despite the amount of hard work a placement takes, there’s no shortage of applicants, and expect to be one of many students hoping to find themselves in a job come placement year. Your CV should be polished, individual and perfect, and cover letters and references should be pristine. Start working on them as soon as humanly possible, and send off applications everywhere very, very quickly. There’s a lot that needs to get done very quickly; get on top of it now and you’ll vastly increase your chances of getting a placement later.
Email every human resources department you can think of that is in any way related to your industry. It doesn’t matter if they’re in the UK or abroad; it shouldn’t matter if they work inside hell itself – email finds a way. Pester, bother, connive and irritate your way into an interview however you can, and just pray it goes well from there – there’s a lot of applicants, and you need to stand out from the others to get ahead.
But That Shouldn’t Stop You
Nobody said university was going to be easy, and if there’s ever a time to work very, very hard for a few years, it’s now. The success of a degree hinges on a lot of things, and an industrial placement can make or break a student. However, if the student keeps their head, works hard and makes sure to do well during the placement, they can expect a lot of bonuses from a sandwich year come graduation. Hard work pays off; in this case it’ll take a year or two to see it, but it’ll be worth it in the end.
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