Overview

The Placement Office in Queen’s Management School has been working closely with a wide range of employers over the last few decades to develop a first class placement programme. The programme prepares students for their year in industry and matches students with employer needs. The Placement Office offers a holistic approach to the development of student employability skills.

• Preparation for placement begins in first year with an induction course educating students on the placement process.
• In second year, students attend a number of workshops on interview techniques, commercial awareness, presentation skills, peer learning, stress management and report writing. They will receive one to one support and guidance from the Placement Team as well as attend employer-led workshops, talks, and our Careers Fair.
• In third year, the students will complete their placement from June onwards and return to University the following September to complete their final degree year.

In addition to the formal placement programme, first year students are encouraged to apply for the City Scholarship programme (5 or 10 days’ work shadowing senior professionals) and other company summer / insight programmes.

In 2020, 142 students went on placement, spread across 57 firms, and five countries.

Click here if you are an employer interested in recruiting a placement student.

Degree programmes

The Management School placement programme applies to the following undergraduate degree programmes:

• BSc Accounting with a Modern Language*
• BSc Actuarial Science and Risk Management
• BSc Business Management
• BSc Economics with a Modern Language*
• BSc Finance
• BSc International Business with a Modern Language*

*Modern languages include Spanish, French, German and Mandarin. Student numbers vary yearly.

Undergraduate students with a compulsory placement complete a minimum of 9 months in a salaried position in their third year. Those students studying a degree with a language spend their third year abroad on a compulsory international work placement in a region of the globe where the language being studied is the dominant tongue. 

Postgraduate students undertaking the MSc Marketing course also work closely with the Placement Office to develop the necessary skills to secure a 12 week summer internship in lieu of a traditional dissertation they complete from June to September.

Benefits of placement for employers

Regardless of the size of your organisation, employers can benefit from recruiting a placement student.

• By offering students a period of work experience your business will gain new ideas and fresh enthusiasm as well as a cost-effective flexible solution to your recruitment needs.
• It's a cost effective means of training and evaluating placement students for potential graduate opportunities.
• You'll get an extra resource for your team.
• Your business will develop links with Queen’s University Belfast and in particular Queen’s Management School, one of the top business schools in the UK.
• Students come with new skills and knowledge of modern practices/technologies.
• It's an opportunity to giveyour existing staff a chance to develop supervisory skills through mentoring a student on placement.

Benefits of placement for students

• Students gain valuable work experience in a relevant business area and the chance to develop a range of work related skills demanded by graduate employers which will dramatically enhance overall employability.
• The opportunity to put academic theory into practice and apply textbook learning.
• Creation of a network of industry contacts and subsequent job opportunities.
• An insight into a particular career and future job opportunities,  enabling students to make informed career choices.
• Personal as well as professional development including self-confidence, self-discipline and responsibility.
• Experience of job application and adapting to workplace culture within a supported environment.

Events

The Placement Office run a series of annual events including the Finance, Actuarial and Business Fair, Placement Celebration Event, SIG trading game and a variety of employer-led master classes.

The Employer Liaison meeting, hosted by the Placement Office biennially, allows employers to contribute to the degree programmes and influence the direction of finance and actuarial education.  

Hear from top employers on placement opportunities for QMS students:

Contact the QMS Placement Office 

If you would like to find out more about placement opportunities within Queen's Management School, please email placementmae@qub.ac.uk 

We encourage students and employers to connect with the Placement Team on linkedin.com/in/qms-placement-office