Placement Opportunities

Get some experience under your belt. If you have a Forensics Lab there at your school, try to get involved even if it is not paid. One thing that some students in our Forensics Major take for granted is the help desk. If you could do some work-study work in the help desk it will make you aware of some basic concepts. Certificates are debated but it is always nice to show that you took the extra initiative to attain them. The one thing is that they do not show the employer that you could apply the theories you learned to the job. If you get some experience under your belt it will show them that yes you have the certifications but that you can also apply what you learned to real life scenarios.

I am on my placement year at the moment. I am also studying at DMU - final year starting in September, can't wait to get the degree finished. The forensics lab is great, and it is open most of the time when the technician is in his office (I think he sleeps there!)

DMU has a great placement unit, they are very friendly there and they help you loads with your CV. It sure helped me. Feel free to ask questions via PM or on here if you want an informal chat -)

Sell yourself- find areas your good at and highlight them in your CV and any covering letters you send. Placement opportunities are hard to get hold of in the UK and aren't going to get any easier for a while due to the recession. Try and get some unpaid work in any area of IT over the summer as any experience is good. Use forums to post your CV and find potential employers. Maybe even contact David Sullivan who is the employment guy for this site- he might have some contacts you could use

Hope that helps

CFUNN

I know students who have dismissed 'general IT' type placements holding out for the big forensics one and then it has not come. My advice is really, at this stage, be open to any kind of IT related placement and as has already been said, look to gain as much hands on computing experience you can.

There are more and more Forensic Computing degrees and graduates, these are the people you will be competing with for work when you graduate. It is your work experience/s that will hopefully set you apart.

As far as certs are concerned, im of the opinion that they reinforce other experience and don't stand up nearly as well in isolation. Whilst I think they wouldn't hurt, I don't think they would necessarily give you that much of an edge, especially as you will be selling the fact you have a first class degree in Forensic Computing.

I was in you position 4 years ago and it was difficult getting a forensic placement then and that was when only 2 or 3 uni did undergrad forensic computing degrees. My placement was a rotation of various IT dept including helpdesk, hardware tech, desktop support and comms the experience helped me get my current job in as a forensic investigator and everyday i use the skills from my placement to do my job, although my placement was not a forensic one.

So coming from someone who been down that road when looking at placement you should broaden your search.
There are not alot of forensic placement due to the type of jobs you could be working on and security clearance.

good luck placement hunting!

Hello Everyone,

I am Rakesh Vishwanath, currently doing the MSc Computer Forensics course in the University Of Westminster. I also have a B.Tech Information Technology ( First Class with Distinction Hons) from SRM UNIVERSITY, Chennai, India. I was wondering if someone could help me out with any internship or training with respect to Computer Forensics.

Thanks.

RAKESH