Technology Facilities; 31st May 2019

Begin your career working in the technology industry

Discover the benefits of a maths, physics, computing, engineering or surveying placement year

You can do a placement year on many of our maths, physics, engineering or computing sandwich degree courses.

When you take a placement year job, you'll work for an established business, a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME), a startup, or even work self-employed. Previous students studying technology subjects with us have done placements as junior developers, junior aerospace engineers, trainee building surveyors and electrical engineers.

Your sandwich year placement will give you valuable experience to help grow your professional network in your subject, enhance your CV, and improve your chances of employment after graduation.

Only to be used in relation to case study.

I did my placement with BAE Systems. I was on the naval base in Portsmouth and I really enjoyed it. I was there for 13 months in total and had a vast array of experiences, not all of them engineering, which was great.

Adele Gibb, Placement student

Placement year job roles

You should think about what you want to get from your placement and apply for roles that can offer you that experience. If you don’t have any ideas, a tech placement is a great opportunity to try a company or industry and identify what you might want to do in the future.

Below are some of the roles our students have done during their sandwich year placement.

Computing placement year roles

  • Junior developer
  • IT analyst
  • Management trainee
  • ICT support technician
  • Business analyst

Maths and Physics placement year roles

  • Flight physics intern
  • Counter-terrorism and security analyst
  • Commercial management intern
  • Student research analyst

Mechanical and Design Engineering placement year roles

  • Design engineer
  • Quality inspector
  • Project manager
  • Junior aerospace engineer
  • Engineering intern (hydromechanical)

Energy and Electrical Engineering placement year roles

  • Systems engineer
  • Electrical engineer
  • Electronic design student
  • Commercial estimator

Civil Engineering and Surveying placement year roles

  • Building controls intern
  • Construction management trainee
  • Trainee building surveyor
  • Trainee civil engineer
  • Assistant quantity surveyor
Marketing Campaigns, Clearing case studies 2019

I’ve just finished my placement year with Geoffrey Osborne, a huge contractor in the UK and I’ve actually been offered a graduate scheme and sponsorship out of it

Joshua Mason, BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering, Placement student

Where you could work during your placement

Placement locations

  • Elanco – a global animal health company
  • BAE Systems – a British multinational defence, security, and aerospace company
  • IBM – an American multinational information technology company
  • CGI Inc. – a Canadian information technology consulting, systems integration, outsourcing and solutions company
  • Eli Lily – an American pharmaceutical company
  • Stannah – a leading international stairlift company and manufacturer of lift services

  • Ricardo Engineering – a global engineering and strategic, technical and environmental consultancy business
  • Caterpillar Inc. – an American Fortune 100 corporation that designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, markets and sells machinery, engines, financial products and insurance
  • TP Group – providers of security solutions working in defence, space, energy, intelligence and security
  • Pall Corporation – a global supplier of filtration, separations and purification products
  • Rolls Royce – a British luxury automobile maker
  • Estee Lauder – a multinational manufacturer and marketer of prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products

  • Balfour Beatty – an international group that operates in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments
  • Bouygues – delivers construction across a wide range of sectors
  • Osborne – provides public construction and solutions for the built environment
  • Portsmouth City Council
  • Beard -an award winning construction company
  • The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) – values properties for Council Tax and non-domestic rates in England and Wales
  • Savills plc – a global real estate services provider
  • WSP Global Inc. – a Canadian business that provides management and consultancy services to the built and natural environment
  • Skanska – the 5th largest construction company in the world, based in Sweden

Browse our courses

Are you ready to increase your employment opportunities and strengthen your skills by doing a sandwich year degree? Browse our placement degree courses now.

Browse our degree courses with work placement

Contact us

To get in touch, please contact our Faculty placement office.

Phone: +44 (0)23 9284 6263

Email: tech.placements@port.ac.uk

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