We are honoured to share that our placement scheme has been recognised and shortlisted in the Top 10 Small to Medium-sized Undergraduate Employers Table of the National Undergraduate Employability Awards 2019 🎉

So, what exactly are the NUE Awards?

In its 10th year of celebrating and rewarding excellence in undergraduate employability, this award acknowledges small businesses who offer fantastic work experience opportunities for undergraduate students. To qualify for the award, students must participate in an undergraduate work experience scheme for a minimum of one week, and have an organisation with fewer than 250 employees.

The NUE Awards ranking was determined solely by student-written reviews on RateMyPlacement.co.uk - the UK's leading job resource for undergraduates seeking placements and internships, where we are currently rated 8.4 /10 ⭐Not too shabby, ay!?

How did we get recognised?

Clock has proudly been involved in facilitating Undergraduate Work Placement Schemes in the Digital Industry since 2001, welcoming undergraduates from universities in the UK with desirable opportunities in Design, Front-end Development and Software Engineering.

Over the last 18 years, we have recruited 40+ placements with over half of those completing university and returning to work for Clock full-time for at least 12 months. Some of which have served 15+ years, including our Managing Director, Robert Arnold & Head of Software Engineering, Tom Smith.

What is a Placement?

Placements are extended periods of time that undergraduates spend working for a company, which usually last for up to nine or twelve months. The majority of our placements tend to join the business for the entire period of their ‘sandwich’ year...no, that doesn’t mean they get to loaf around for 12 months! A whole lot better than that, they will have the opportunity to make connections within the company and impress, giving them a better chance of securing a permanent position after they graduate should they wish to.

Students can benefit from a placement to gain real-world experience whilst they are still an undergraduate, meaning that when they do graduate, they will already have many of the skills that companies search for - Learning useful, practical, workplace experiences and not just how to make a top notch brew (if you are partial to a hot beverage, you’re bound to play our studio-wide tea game ☕).

What makes a Clock Placement?

We give students the freedom and support to get stuck into our projects and tasks from the get-go, helping them to prepare for a life in the real and digital world, should they choose to explore a career in this industry after graduation.

They will be considered as an integral member of the production team, with responsibilities ranging from creating production-ready websites and mobile application user interfaces and user experiences, to developing web systems using the latest technologies. By allowing our placements to work on large scale web builds for renowned clients, they will in turn acquire experience within a dynamic agency environment. Oh, and did we mention that you can finish work at 2pm on a Friday? One of Clock’s many perks! 🍻

Who are they?

Meet our wonderful and talented undergraduate students who are currently undergoing their one year placement! Find out what they enjoy most about working at Clock, and what valuable skills they will take away from their time here (opinions are their own and not the views of their employer);

Billy Kabubi - Placement Digital Designer
“The thing I have enjoyed most at Clock has been gaining a massive insight into how the design industry works and receiving a huge amount of support and creative knowledge from my senior team. The company culture has also contributed a lot to my satisfaction over the placement period."

Tom Snelling - Placement Front-end Developer
“The thing I have enjoyed the most is the friendly, family-like atmosphere of the company. Right from the start, I have been made to feel a real part Clock. I’ve made some great friends that I’m sure I’ll keep in touch with when I go back to uni. The 21st birthday was also an absolute blast! I will take away some very valuable skills, working in the office this year has really improved my communications skills and knowledge of a real-world agency workflow. Learning React has really improved the way I work, and I am really glad I got the opportunity to learn it with lots of very knowledgeable and helpful people around me! I’ve really loved it, going to miss everyone when I go back to uni.”

Will Stewart - Placement Software Engineer
“The Clock placement scheme has given me the opportunity to experience a wide range of projects and platforms across web and mobile. It is really rewarding knowing that the code you write is used by users on a daily basis. This has been my first full professional experience and working in a team on projects has been exciting and provided a different dynamic compared to projects you complete on your own at University.”

Ryan Murthick - Placement Software Engineer
“I’ve most enjoyed the working environment and culture at Clock, and in terms of skills I’ve learnt a lot about working on large production websites in node js”

Tanisha Walker - Placement Front-end Developer
“Working on a variety of projects has been really fun and interesting - it keeps you on your toes and it means I've learned a lot. I also really love the spontaneous team outings to get food!”

Happy Placements, Happy People!

This achievement is a testament to the amazing work we do and we couldn’t be more proud of our placement programme, so much so, that we have recently introduced a Digital and Technology Solutions Professional Degree Apprenticeship with Buckinghamshire New University!

Whilst we've already secured our year-long work placements who we look forward to welcoming in September, we now have an exciting opportunity available for an Apprentice Software Engineer to join our savvy technical team. Are you interested in becoming a member of the Clock family? Find out more and apply here!

Congratulations to the other employers who made the Top 10 Small to Medium-sized Undergraduate Employers Table, entrants can be viewed here.