Msc Student looking for a placement starting July 2010

I'm not so sure people are going to contact you, you need to be contacting them!

If you haven't already you may wish to contact David Sullivan (see http//www.forensicfocus.com/graduates). He covers placements as well as employment opportunities.

Jamie

Thankyou for replying.

I really appreciate your comment and I agree with you it is important for me to make contact with agencies.
My first steps have been to post to forensic forums and also to register with the placement agencies. The next steps will be to contact any firms I can find.
This is a very good forum with a lot of experienced members so I thought it would be a good place to get advice and comments.
Any further comments or suggestions of how and where to approach the process would be greatly received. Thank you )

Good post. Nice information has been given. Have anyone heard of Cloudjobs They are the NO.1 online job site they provide a good service for the job seekers and job providers. I used them for my career. They were very much helpful. They placed me in a good job. They are created to help the job seekers and job providers.

I currently in my placement year at De Montfort Uni with a forensics company in Surrey.

The Uni have a great system in place for applying for placements (and a very hard working placement manager!) but I know some of my course mates got jobs within the community by going out there and contacting the companies first hand. Some people on the course moan how 'they didn't get a job', when they were the ones who sat at home doing nothing at the weekends when the people who got the jobs were visiting places and getting their faces known.

It's not easy to get into I'm afraid but if you really want it, and are keen you'll get something. How is the course going? I'm looking forward to see how the course has changed when I get back for my final year.

Also look out for the MTEB conference next year (sometime in April), they offered free places to Uni students this year but they annouced it quite late so a few of my course mates couldn't make it, maybe they are doing the same next year? It's best to keep your eyes peeled!

Hi,
Nice to hear from another DeMontfort student ! I hope you are enjoying your placement.

I am going to try everything I can think of to get a placement. I have been very busy studying and I am enjoying the course very much.

It is easy to get swept up in all the studying so I probably have fallen behind a bit with the placement searching although I have joined all the placement recruitment sites and keep looking at the vacancies. I have also contacted people I know. So it is now onto the next stage !
I am going to spend some of this Christmas vacation getting letters ready to send in the new year.
I think it is a good experience to go through the experience of trying to get a placement even if I don't get one–if you know what I mean !!

I really appreciate the comments from everyone.
all the best D

Hi Lynoharvey,

I appreciate is is difficult to secure a placement in this area but the opportunities are out there and some of the most proactive undergraduates have already found a place so time is running out…

To increase your chances, I would just add the following advice

1, Have a fantastic CV. If your CV isn't up to scratch you are pretty much wasting your time. There is a huge amount of CV advice around but in my view, a lot of it is pretty outdated so I would suggest you look at this short article as a starting point www.forensicfocus.com/writing-a-winning-resume-cv ;

2, Don't just rely on your placement officer/lecturers. Apply directly to every single CF Department in the UK (ideally) ensuring that you email your CV to a named person - in my experience the more senior the contact the more chance that you will be successful;

3, Be persistent. Ok, so senior people are (in theory) pretty busy so we don't want to borderline stalk them, but every application should be followed up after 5/6 days if you haven't had a reply. I suggest you call at non-peak periods to increase your chances of the person you call being able and willing to spend time talking with you.

4, Make it personal. If possible, you want the person you have contacted to see you as a person rather than just another application. Suggest you take 20 minutes of their time to buy them a coffee - don't feel uncomfortable doing this as you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

5, Get lucky! This is the most important factor but if you follow the steps outlined above you will increase your chances.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.

David.

Hi,
I thought I would give an update on how I got on with my search for a placement because people were kind enough to offer me advice.

When I posted I was very keen to get a forensic placement and I was also very out of practice in the process of applying for jobs.
I sent my CV to a fair number of firms and also applied for a wide range of IT jobs through the placement unit. I was accepted for an IT post after my second interview.
I am well into the placement now and I think the experience is invaluable. I am working with a team that troubleshoots and fixes the wide range of devices and networks that are used and will also do some work on the help desk.

Although at the start of my search I would have been disappointed not to have a forensic placement I can now see that I will gain a huge amount from this placement and I am glad to be there !!

My technical knowledge is increasing every day but also there is a lot to be gained from interacting with and observing how people and organisations deal with the technology on a day to day basis.
For instance there are hundreds of details like the server backup routine and where people store their passwords and so on which will all help in forensic investigations.

Good luck to everyone looking for a placement this year!

Hi,
I thought I would give an update on how I got on with my search for a placement because people were kind enough to offer me advice….Good luck to everyone looking for a placement this year!

I think general PC and network support is an excellent place to get experience before entering forensics. Thanks for leaving your feedback, I wish more people would do the same!