As you may be approaching placement, this blog post will outline something fellow students and I wish we had known prior to starting, which was keeping track of achievements on placement. Your placement year is a great opportunity to try new things, and a chance to push yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s therefore a good idea to keep track of your achievements and small wins along the way to look back on!

So, why is this useful?

• Highlight skills & experiences – Being aware of the skills developed and experiences you’ve gained on placement will only prove beneficial for yourself- such as updating your CV, setting goals and for your own personal development.
• Reflective Journal for your Placement Assessment– Most modes of assessment in placement year include reflections of your personal experience, so having a note of achievements and activities on placement makes tackling the assessment much easier!

What type of achievements should you track?

• Tasks/Projects you’ve done– On placement, you may be involved in tasks and projects. It’s always worth noting what these were and how you can highlight your skills. Noting your involvement in tasks/projects will also hold useful for your reflective journal, CV and for your own personal reflections.
• Trying something new – Whether it was delivering a presentation or networking with management in a company, if you have pushed yourself out of your comfort zone and tried something new, this is a great achievement! There are some things we don’t realise we have accomplished until we have finished with the experience and highlighting these is useful.
• Outside of placement environment – However, achievements aren’t just limited to your placement environment, these can include and are not limited to: moving to a new city, sorting through admin or meeting new people.

How to keep track of these achievements?

• Use a Notes app– Personally, I found this to be very convenient as it’s easy and accessible via my phone (e.g. Notes App, OneNote, DayOne). Most of these apps have the option to include checklists, and DayOne even has the option to include voice notes on the go if you prefer!
• Regularly update your CV– Updating the bullet points in your CV under your education/work experience is a great way to keep track and reflect on your experiences and achievements. This will also be useful when it comes to applying for graduate jobs, as you’ll already have a lot on your plate in final year

When it comes to placement, it’s not how many achievements you track, as the small wins are just as if not more important. Reflecting on these, will make you realise how much you will have developed over the course of your placement. And many of us who have completed a placement will agree that the year flies by- so do enjoy your experience and reach out to the on-placement support team at onplacementsupport@aston.ac.uk if you have any queries!

Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash