Work Placements

What are you studying?

Medieval and Early Modern BA

Where and when did you do your work placement?

With Hywel Francis, the Plaid Cymru MP for Arfon in the House of Commons, November, 2016.

Why did you choose that particular placement?

I wanted to gain experience working for a policy advisor as my future career prospect is working for the Diplomatic Service therefore gaining some political experience I felt was essential.

What did you do during the placement?

I wrote speeches, did research for the Plaid Cymru MPs, attended meetings to discuss future business for the party and attended chamber debates. One piece of research I unearthed for Hywel Williams was used by him in the House, and is now recorded forever in Hansard!

Benefits of the work placement for your own skills?

Being able to prioritise tasks as I would get many of them during a day; being able to read lots of information in a short amount of time; learning how to act in a working environment, which sounds really simple but knowing how to be professional and act professionally was a really important skill I learnt on my placement. Also, learning how to have more confidence in my own skills as I received excellent feedback from tasks I completed.

What are you studying?

Archaeology MArts

Where and when did you do your work placement?

Storiel Museum, Bangor. Sept. 2015 to April 2016

Why did you choose that particular placement?

I am very keen to go into the heritage industry following University. I felt that by completing a work placement at Storiel, it would provide good experience for my CV, and help to know if this was the correct career path for me.

What did you do during the placement?

My work placement at Storiel was based on the theme of museum resilience; how a museum keeps itself afloat in the 21st century. To do this I focused on marketing. My main work involved assessing the museums current social media outlets and implementing changes to benefit the museum. For example, I created a marketing strategy plan to aid in the creation of social media. I also performed other activities including; helping out at open days, leaflet distribution, and assisting on the museum floor. I found all the tasks to be engaging and really felt like I was contributing to the museum.

Benefits of the work placement for your own skills?

During my time at the museum I was in charge of a number of other volunteers. This enabled me to gain new leadership and communication skills. These skills were also obtained in the very generous amount of independence I was given, this took a bit to get used to, but dramatically improved my confidence and helped improve my people management skills. The placement also allowed me to experience a working environment, and help confirm that my career path was right for me. Perhaps best of all, all of the skills I learned during my time at the museum were transferable, the work place diary which had to be completed as an assessment, provided a great source of all the activities, and skills I learned and completed to put on my CV.

What are you studying?

History with Archaeology BA.

Where and when did you do your work placement?

I did my work placement with the National Trust’s conservation team at Plas Newydd house on Anglesey, October-December, 2016, but I plan to continue volunteering at Plas Newydd with the conservation team to further develop my skills and practical knowledge in that field of history.

What did you do during the placement?

My placement consisted of a variety of different roles. Primarily I was involved in an ongoing project by the conservation team, to assess the contents of the archived documents from the 6th and 7th Marquess of Anglesey. These documents had previously been unseen by the conservation team and anything within them that was of particular interest was recorded for future reference. This was a particularly interesting task as the documents varied from advertisements in the post to private and personal letters to invitations from the king to a tea party. Another hands on experience I had with the conservation team was the deep cleaning of the Waterloo collection. This gave me the opportunity to be involved with the various methods of cleaning each artefact as well as be involved with the detailed process of cataloguing each artefact. As well as this I was involved in the opening and general maintenance of the house and collections. Part of this involved the careful movement and documentation of some of the larger collection pieces in preparation for the Christmas market. During the Christmas Market I took part in the marketing process and played the role of an Elf for the Santa’s Grotto. As well as being a bit of fun assisting the marketing team gave me the opportunity to look at the different positions within the National Trust that I had previously not considered for a career path. Overall I really enjoyed my experience at Plas Newydd and the variety of jobs and projects that I was involved in opened my eyes to future career paths that I had not previously considered.

Benefits of the work placement for your own skills?

My work placement gave me variety of roles and responsibilities of which I have gained a vast skills set from. Examples being the detailed process of cataloguing artefacts, the various methods and practises involved in handling the artefacts, the processes of marketing the property, along with many others.