Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is committed to delivering industry-focused courses that prepare students for life beyond lectures. That’s why all courses feature some kind of work-like experience, ranging from employer-led projects through to year-long industry placements. Within this includes the option for employers to take on students via a short-term placement (30 hours – 12 weeks).
Placements typically take place during the academic year, with students expected to start between October – April.
Below are a selection of example projects that could be supported by taking on a placement student. This list is not exhaustive, and we welcome enquiries about any project ideas you wish to explore.
Example projects and placement solutions
Project example: an organisation seeking to improve its sustainability practices and achieve a certification for this.
Placement solution: a student from the School of Arts and Humanities could complete an 80-hour placement (working 1 day per week from October - December / January - March) to evaluate current sustainability activity, undertake market research and design a new policy for the business.
Project example: a museum wants to diversify its target audience and attract younger visitors.
Placement solution: a Fashion Marketing and Branding student would undertake a 9-week placement (from March - May) looking at community engagement via social media, including designing a promotional strategy to attract new visitors.
Project example: an established brand is interested in international expansion.
Placement solution: an interdisciplinary placement could bring together a student studying Politics and International Relations, with a student from Nottingham Business School, to undertake SWOT and Ansoff Matrix analyses into the current business position. Working together they would craft a business growth proposal, including marketing strategy, aligned to the new direction of the business.
Project example: a business seeking to boost team morale and connection in a fully remote-working team.
Placement solution: a group of students from NTU's Health and Social Care disciplines would work together on a 30-hour placement to design and conduct survey research into employee satisfaction, concluding the project with recommendations based on findings.
Project example: a retail/hospitality business wants to investigate changing consumer habits to determine procurement of new suppliers.
Placement solution: a student on a 10-12 week placement would review existing stock and sales data and undertake competitor analysis to make informed recommendations to the business.
Project example: a diverse workforce makes it challenging for an organisation to organise a summer social that caters to all.
Placement solution: a student studying Psychology could complete a 60-hour placement in January, undertaking primary research to capture feedback about the business' previous social events, in order to navigate the workforces' preferences.
They could handover this research to a student from Nottingham Business School, who would undertake a 12-week placement focused on planning and executing the summer event.
At the event and in the weeks after, a student studying Media could capture, edit and produce a video, designed to be used as a promotional tool to showcase the company culture and support future recruitment.
Transferrable skills
As with the Events example, some business challenges are conducive to hosting a series of placements, in order to access a range of expertise and resource. There are students from over 20 different courses available to take part in short-term placements, presenting employers with a variety of benefits.
As well as academic knowledge, students are equipped with a wealth of transferrable skills, including communication, active listening, critical thinking and teamworking.
Check out the below video, to discover more about our Psychology students. This cohort can undertake a 60-hour placement, available to start October - January.
Success stories
"Work smarter not harder"
Hosting a short-term placement allowed local company, Roemer Barnes Consultancy, to test their readiness for expansion, with bespoke support from the NTU Employability team throughout the experience.
"By bringing in talent from NTU it has helped identify areas for improvement within our business and has meant we have been able to introduce more efficient ways of working that allow us to work smarter not harder and continue growing the business.”
Get involved
To start the conversation about short-term placements designed to solve your business needs, please complete the below enquiry form.