More and more businesses are realising the potential of recruiting placement students. As well as a flexible and cost-effective workforce, placement students bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm — and often become a permanent member of the team after graduation.

We met with James Fox from 3Squared and Rebecca Walker of Pricecheck to find out the benefits of placement students for their respective businesses.

A flexible resource

Railway technology company 3Squared has taken on placement students for nearly 20 years. “For us, it's become a very important aspect of our workforce strategy,” says commercial director and co-founder James Fox. “60 to 70% of our staff started as placement students.”

3Squared recruit their placement students from Sheffield Hallam University, part of a longstanding relationship that began when James was a student there himself.

“I took a placement year and I thought it was the best part of the degree,” he says. When he started 3Squared with a fellow student after graduating, James knew right away that placements would be part of the business.

“We were a young company, so right from the start taking on placement students was a cost-effective way of employing enthusiastic workers.” 

Wholesale retailer Pricecheck is another company to benefit from placement students from Sheffield Hallam.

Business change manager Rebecca Walker says, “They are part of our workforce strategy. Every year we make a decision about how many placements we need, based on what skills gaps there are in different departments.

“Placement students are a very flexible resource because they want to learn about all the different aspects of the company, so we can put them where we need them.

Easy to recruit

So having identified a skills gap or the need for some additional resource for your business, how do you go about recruiting a placement student?

Rebecca explains, “It’s very similar to graduate recruitment. We attend Hallam’s careers fairs, students apply for a place, and we then shortlist and interview the candidates. At the moment, under pandemic restrictions, that all happens online.”

At Sheffield Hallam, a dedicated placements team works with each business to make sure they find the right students. They also support the business and the student throughout their placement.

James adds, “The reason we've always stuck with Sheffield Hallam is because the quality of the students is so high. Hallam teaches professional skills, and every student has a mature attitude and the work ethic to hit the ground running.”

Adding value to the business

Once recruited, placement students quickly become an integral part of the workforce. James explains, “They have eagerness and the drive, but fresh experience too. There are things the students bring, like new technology and new techniques, that improve the way we work.

“At 3Squared we’re always looking for ways to improve how we do things, and the placement students really help us. They are part of the team, working on real projects. They’re not just sitting in the background, they’re helping us grow the business.”

Rebecca agrees. “Pricecheck is a business that’s constantly evolving, and the students come in with new ideas and see challenges through fresh eyes. After a while, you can’t tell which members of staff are students — they look like any other employee and perform at the same level.”

Accessing the best talent

Offering work placements can also be a great way of recruiting permanent staff.

“If they make the grade, it’s a no-brainer to invite them back as a full-time member of staff,” says James. “They don’t need training, so they can hit the ground running. There aren’t enough developers to go round at the moment, so to have this opportunity to recruit good developers is fantastic. It’s a tried and tested part of our business model now.”

Meanwhile, of the 40 placement students Pricecheck has welcomed since 2014, twelve are now employed by the firm.

Rebecca says, “As the business grows, it can be difficult to recruit good staff, especially in the numbers we need. People sometimes haven't heard of our company compared to bigger retail names, but by bringing in placement students it helps us access the really good candidates.”

And, as Rebecca points out, the opportunity to try different things on a placement can be world-changing for both the student and the business.

“One of our students was working in the finance team, but towards the end of his placement he wanted to try sales. He decided that he loved it, came back as a graduate and he now works as an international account manager, managing his own territory. If it wasn't for the placement he wouldn't have experienced that field of work, and he may never have gone into it.”