Student's Placement Report

The student placement report, which should contain approx. 3000 words and be typed and bound , should be received by the Placement Administrator, Computing and Maths School Office, Room 16G24, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ulster, Shore Road, Newtownabbey, BT37 0QB before noon on the second Monday in June of the year you finish placement . Please mark envelope Placement Report.

Section 1

You should, from the start ensure the layout is right. Section one should be labeled;

1. Introduction (example 14 point bold)

Subsections of this section should be a smaller font but still bold; (main body of the text - example 11 point not bold)

The introduction shouold be a short paragraph on where you are and what you are doing etc

1.1 History and Development of the Company (example 12 point bold) etc. etc. have a look at academic papers online

Section one should be your introduction. It should include (under separate sections if you prefer)

• The history and development of the company
• An organisational chart of the people in the company – make sure you are on it … no matter how far down … someday you will at the top!

• The function of the host department
• An understanding of the company management and department structures.

You should also give some thought (although this can be changed later if necessary) to the font you are going to use. Remember, this is an official document leading to a qualification, please do not use Comic Sans or any other ‘quirky' font … Giddy Up is cute but is NOT appropriate!

Section 2

This is the most important section of the report and it should describe your role in the company. You should start with your job description. When you are writing this think of how you would advertise the job rather than giving a blow by blow account of your day – that information should be in your log which should be located in the appendices section at the end … but more about that later. Look at the technical skills that you need to do the job and the skills you have learnt while in place. Finally talk about the social aspects of the job. Did you have a Christmas dinner, have lunch with colleagues or do they run team building days? Ideally you should have photographic evidence to support this. If you are including photographs make sure you write a comprehensive caption underneath. There is nothing worse than looking at photos and not knowing what is going on in them. It would also be a good idea when talking about your role in the company to include a photo of your workspace … with you in it!

The log book (which you should have been keeping all along) should be appendix 1. Make sure you mention it in this section and reference it, for example;

“First thing every Monday I backed up the server using ………….., see appendix 1”

Section 3

In this section of the report you should look at what training you have had either formally or informally, what aspect of the job did you need these skills for? Also look at the expertise you have gained throughout the year and the skills you have acquired that relate directly to your course, how will these help you in final year and in the future?

Finally look at personal development … see the pds system

Section 4

This should be the reflective section of the report. So far you have talked about the company, your role in it and what you have learnt now you need to relate this to your future job prospects. What have you learnt that will help you get a job. Include things such as;

• communication skills
• learning how to work in a team
• time management skills; working to deadlines
• dealing with others e.g. customers, other departments within the organisation
• increased self confidence, better self management, increased self awareness
• decision making skills
• link the work you have done and the training you have had with your university course and your future career plans.

Section 5

Reports should be nearly finished. You are also marked on readability (and spelling and grammar). This is difficult to assess yourself and it is better if others read it ideally someone who does not work with you or know what you do. Your report should explain your job fully to someone without prior knowledge of the job you are doing. So get someone else to read it and correct it.

Section 6

Make sure the report is bound (do two and keep a copy for yourself). Assuming you have followed the format, it should be well structured, so no problems there. Check the spelling and grammar. The best report in the world can be let down by bad grammar. Hopefully anyone who read your report last week will have pointed out any errors.

Now the check list. Make sure you have the following included;

  • A title page. Include the company name and logo and your name and student number.
  • Header and footer on each page with page numbers and your details
  • A contents page with page numbers
  • Acknowledgements Thank the people you have worked with and anyone else who had contributed to the experience. Your line manager should be allowed an opportunity to read the report and anyone else who expresses an interest. If this is the case include a circulation list on the acknowledgement page.
  • Photographs and snapshot Include some photos with captions and the snapshot is a form included in the placement bumff you were sent. If you can't find it let me know.
  • Appendices e.g. Examples of documents created, code developed, screen dumps, commendations/awards
  • Reference list if necessary
  • An index is a nice touch if you have time

    Things to watch out for!

    "i" is not the same as "I", do not use a lowercase i when taking about yourself.

    Use a double space after each full stop.

    Use a double return at the end of each paragraph.

    Please number the pages but the cover page is not page one.

    Please have the report bound, it is cheap (I will check the price) to have it done in the Uni bookshop. Bought binders never look as professional as proper binding and the report is showing us how you have learnt to work in the professional world, make a good impression!