Our regular modules are designed and taught with your personal and professional development in mind. As well as the high level intellectual skills – comprehension, knowledge organisation, research and reporting skills, argumentation – for which History students have always been in great demand, students are given the opportunity to develop a range of IT skills, group-working skills, presentation skills, and leadership and self-management skills.
In addition, all single and joint honours History programmes contain modules which focus directly on developing professional skills in real world contexts. Vision at Work offers students the chance to reflect on issues of work, employment and careers, begin the process of compiling files of materials for job applications, and also apply their historical skills to a public history project in the local community. The Professional Placement, generally taken when students are in their second year of full-time study, gives students the chance to undertake a supervised six-week placement with a firm, public sector organisation or voluntary association, in which they will develop specific skills and gain an insight into the ways in which their studies can be used to get them the sort of job they are looking for. It also includes preparatory sessions with outside speakers talking about graduate employment in areas such as museum and heritage work and teaching.
Recent placements have included:
local schools
Beamish Industrial Museum,
The Royal Armouries (Leeds)
Durham Record Office
Second World War Experience Archive Centre
National Football Museum (Preston).
You might find yourself doing anything from putting down a concrete floor for a new gallery to exploring the Black Death with eight year olds!
Leeds Trinity University College has a 30 year track record in the use of work placements of this sort, and over the years many students have been able to capitalise on the contacts they’ve gained during their placements to obtain highly-sought after jobs in the broadcast media, public relations, and the heritage sector. They can give you a real edge in the job market, and that’s why employment rates at Leeds Trinity University College have for a number of years been amongst the highest of all the universities in the country (Leeds Trinity was designated ‘Best for Jobs’ in the 2005 Sunday Times Good University Guide).