Starting your placement soon? Congratulations!

Clinical placements are your chance to take your skills from the classroom and apply them in a practical setting. Be sure to work hard, be consistent, maintain a positive attitude, stand out and make the most of your time. Here’s why.

1. Building a good rapport with your preceptors, coworkers, managers, etc. can lead to positive references that may help you land your dream job.
2. Enhance your education: If you plan to further your studies, your placement will provide you with knowledge that can help you both academically and professionally. For starters, you will be building upon information you have already gained which can help you in future work situations and help you be more prepared for your future studies.
3. Improve your resume: Your placement experience(s) can be added to your resume and help you stand out among the competition when applying for jobs.
4. Gain industry knowledge: Being able to work alongside other health care professionals with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences will allow you to gain insight into job responsibilities and keep you up-to-date with the latest trends and news specific to your area of study. 
5. Explore a specialty: Completing a placement can help you make a more informed choice about the specialty you’d like to pursue or the health care area you’d like to work in.
6. Create valuable contacts. You never know who you may meet and how someone can help you in your future career, so be sure to get along with everyone and make a positive, lasting impression.
7. Learn to step outside of your comfort zone. Sure, you may think you have learned all the skills during your studies that are necessary to perform certain job responsibilities well, but a placement will test those skills in a variety of real-life, hands-on situations.
8. Develop personally and professionally. Completing a placement will allow you to not only build upon skills and knowledge but also grow personally and improve upon employability skills such as resiliency, communication, teamwork, time management, maturity, accountability, and more.
9. Build your confidence: By the end of your placement, you will have a deeper insight into yourself and your future career and you will gain the confidence to excel in your role.
10. Develop your personal brand: Creating a good rapport, furthering your education, and gaining industry knowledge are all great ways to develop your personal brand and stand out from other candidates when searching for your dream job.
    

Final words of advice: Don’t let your placement intimidate you. Be open-minded, compassionate, professional, and hard-working, but also be yourself so you can be remembered for making a difference in health care. Good luck!