Introduction to Work Placements

Oxford House College is committed to helping you improve both your language and work skills, in order to maximize your career prospects. With this in mind, the College offers students the opportunity to undertake a work placement. Our Work Placement programmes are primarily designed for students wishing to undertake a work placement as part of their programme of study.

We can arrange two types of work placement for you:

• Work placements geared to improving your English language Skills - see English plus Work Placement
• Work placements that are career focused, geared to improving your job related skills - see Vocational Programme plus Work Placement and Degree Programme plus Work Placement

These programmes include a work placement lasting up to 1 year, mainly in the fields of Business Management, Computing & IT, Hotel Management and Travel & Tourism. However, we can also find you a suitable work placement in another business sector, depending on your previous work experience and qualifications.

During your placement, which will be supervised and may even pay a salary, you will have the opportunity to study your host organisation and the role you play within it – focusing on how academic theory and knowledge translates into practice in the workplace. In many cases, non-native speakers of English can significantly improve their language skills simply by working in an English-speaking environment.

Students are recruited by companies for many reasons - the ability to think laterally, learn quickly and react effectively – skills which you will learn with us. Your employer will also benefit from the latest technical and research skills you will bring to the role.
Placements can be ‘a foot in the door’ for students. Employers often use them as part of their graduate recruitment process, offering a permanent full time position upon completion. Indeed, many Oxford House College students have already impressed their employers to the extent of being offered permanent jobs. Put simply, companies want people who can start working effectively from day one, so the more you know before you start, the better your chances of being considered for a full time job.

If you are not entirely sure what you want to do, work placements are a great way to test your career plans and find out more about a particular industry without committing yourself. So whatever the outcome, you will gain invaluable first hand experience of the working world and a particular industry, thereby making your CV stand out and improving your employment prospects.

Work placements have a work placement officer attached to them. The placement officer is your first point of contact and will give you advice on the options available to you, as well as help with preparing a professional-standard CV and interview techniques.
The types of work placements offered are varied but typically include:

• Shadowing - literally following someone around to learn how they do their job.

• More general roles that involve helping out with all aspects of a department or company while learning how things work, such as general office management activities.

• A specific role on a particular project or in a particular department, such as assisting with business or technical assignments.

The main objective of the work placement programme is the development of essential skills that will prove invaluable for a future career in the particular industry. Work placements can be either within or outside of London - we will try our best to arrange a work placement for you in your desired location. If the work placement is outside London, we will provide assistance (usually through your host organisation) to find suitable accommodation for you

Minimum Entry Requirements
In order to take any of our work placement based courses, you are required to satisfy the following requirements:

• Aged 18 years or older
• Upper-Intermediate level of English or equivalent qualification such as IELTS, Cambridge ESOL certificate or TOEFL.