We are looking for alumni and supporters to help our students develop their employability skills, by offering to host internships through our Excel Southampton Placement Programme.
The Excel Placement Programme, coordinated by Career Destinations, provides placement opportunities for University of Southampton students to gain great work experience. Each year the team arrange around 400 placement opportunities, lasting for 4-12 weeks; working with local and national SMEs, large corporations, third sector organisations and internally within the University. Participating students are paid a stipend by the University for the duration of the placement.
In February, Southampton student and Excel Placement intern Ollie Reed won the award for ‘Best Intern’ at the National Undergraduate Employability Awards in London. Ollie undertook a summer placement at the University through the Excel Southampton Placement Programme last year and won the Excel Outstanding Achievement Award for the contribution he made.
The placement, working with Dr Tom Wilkinson, Associate Professor of Respiratory Medicine, saw Ollie working in the team that is developing new treatments for patients with life-threatening lung diseases. During his eight weeks, Ollie introduced, manufactured and tested a new piece of equipment that saved the team over £30,000. This led to a nomination for the national award, where Ollie beat over 400 other nominations to secure his place as a finalist against students who had worked with Enterprise rent-a-car; PwC and The Silver Spoon Company.
Professor Alex Neill, Pro Vice-Chancellor Education said,
This is a fantastic achievement for Ollie and Southampton. It’s great to see more of our students joining the Excel Placement scheme and gaining valuable experience to launch their careers.
The value that the Excel Placement Programme adds to the student experience at Southampton is considerable: it helps to prepare our students for the world of work, and ensure that they have diverse and relevant skills. If you think your company could help nurture the next generation of Southampton talent by hosting a placement, contact us at placements@soton.ac.uk
