This is a guest blog post from John Nana about his placement experience whilst studying one of our postgraduate courses in Computing & Informatics.

Utilise every opportunity. Break barriers. Have fun.
Those were the words running through my mind during the international commencement ceremony for postgraduate students at Bournemouth University.

My name is John Nana and I recently concluded a master’s programme in Applied Data Analytics with BU. I opted for the placement year to help me integrate into the industry, develop industry knowledge and learn about the working culture in the UK. I was able to secure a software engineer internship with JPMorgan Chase during my placement year.

Utilise every opportunity.
After being briefed by the placement coordinators about the efforts required to secure a placement role, I decided to avail myself of every resource the University had to offer. Ranging from appointments with career services officers, using the resources on MyCareerHub, having my program leader review my CV and provide feedback and to finally attending several career fairs organised by the University. This is where I found out about the available placement role with JPMorgan.

Breaking Barriers.
After applying such a rigorous process during the search for my placement , I wouldn’t say I was fully prepared for the amount of rejection emails I received. I found out later, that master’s placements aren’t something all companies are familiar with. But I didn’t relent. I persevered until I secured the perfect one for me.

Having Fun.
My academic year with the University and my placement year with the company were enjoyable and all shades of fun. I made new friends, acquired new skills and consolidated my professional network. I experienced first-hand how various technical techniques I learnt in class are used in the industry to add value to clients. I would say the exposure the program offers, and the experience I’ve gained during the placement year were very helpful for me. It helped me extend my capacity as software engineer and also developed me as a person. And yes, I did secure a full-time Software Engineer role with the company afterwards. Words of advice for prospecting students looking to get into the industry?
Perseverance. Diligence. Consistency. You can’t go wrong with following these principles.