What is the micro-placements scheme?
If you are a second-year student with the Classics Department, whether on a single or joint honours degree programme, the micro-placements scheme is your chance to develop professional skills and to improve your career prospects after graduation.
Under this award-winning scheme, the Careers & Employability placements team offers a limited number of short summer placements across a wide range of industries to the most motivated students.
Micro-placements last between two and four weeks and take place during summer vacation. Most of the placements are located in and around London, but requests for flexibility in location may be taken into consideration. All placements are unpaid, but they are recognised on the students’ degree transcript and all travel expenses incurred during a micro-placement will be reimbursed.
The application process
In order to get a place on the scheme, you will need to go through a competitive selection process, which has been designed to boost your employability and to develop skills required for the job market.
Students attend workshops, get tailored feedback on their CVs and cover letters, and attend a short interview. Successful applicants will be offered a placement secured by the placements team.
To find out more about the scheme, second-year students have the chance to attend one of several micro-placements presentations running at the beginning of the Autumn Term. You can find further information here.
Student experiences
Intern at Foundling Museum
The highlight was creating children’s activities for the museum virtually from scratch. Some activities were out of date, and I was tasked with looking through them to decide which had potential and then editing and, in one case, rewriting them to bring them up to date. The activities were based in my favourite room in the museum, and I saw the whole process through, putting the activities out on my penultimate day and then having the satisfaction of watching some children completing them.
Intern at Simon Lee Gallery
I was asked to create artist biographies for their new website. This allowed me the opportunity to refine my written communication as well as research. Additionally, I was given the opportunity to research the art economy and who was buying art so that we could follow them on social media to increase the profile of the gallery. Another task I was given was to photograph all their books they sell for their new website, and later editing the photos, giving me the opportunity to use my creativity and develop my ICT skills.