HOW I FOUND A JOB MYSELF FOR PLACEMENT YEAR

I study Events Management at Leeds Metropolitan University. It got to half way through first year of uni and I chose the sandwich course, so I needed to go on placement/internship in my second year, so it was about time I got my CV and cover letters ready and started searching for an internship.  It took me around 2 months to sort all this out and to book one-to-one sessions with the placement tutors for them to give me feedback on the structure and content of my CV and covering letter.

(Leeds Metropolitan University, James Graham Building)

1. WHERE DID I REALLY WANT TO GO?

I didn't really have a clear idea of where I wanted to go, just knew that I wanted to move out of home for a while, it was just whether if I wanted to stay in the UK or go somewhere else.  

I did look into going to bigger cities in the UK, like London or Manchester where there are more opportunities to get more experience.

I also considered going over to Los Angeles, but there was no way I could support myself financially during that time (I'm just a student)! So THAT was crossed off the list!

After discussing with family, they suggested that I go to Hong Kong as it is easier to find a job in the Events industry over there or at least something related to events whether if it's production/operation work.

2. THE SEARCH

So, I began to search for event companies in HK and blasted emails attached with a CV, personalised cover letter and a photo of myself (don't really agree with having to attach a photo, but that's another story).  

I emailed some bigger companies such as,  Pico and Jack Morton but I waited around I didn't receive a reply from them, so then I carried on emailing companies and I came across a company called Eventist Hong Kong Ltd, their website seemed genuine and they had a lot of references from previous jobs and they had worked with some global brands such as Shell, Toyota, etc. I sent them an email and they got back to me within a week.

3. SECURING THE PLACEMENT

I had to fill our placement request forms and other forms for the University because I found the placement myself and not through the Uni and basic contracts and forms were sent to me via email from the company.

Read and signed the contract.

Tip: Make sure that you know the salary because it is very often that they won't include it in the contract. Also, by law, they're NOT required to pay you minimum wage if you're a student intern. (Booooooooooooooooo)

Everything happened super fast, the placement was secured within a month and all I had to do was book my flight to go in 3 weeks time.


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I HOPE THIS HELPED! 

M x