For those of you who only read the first line of an article, I’d just like to say that joining WEXO was how I found a placement that suited my aspirations. And that’s it!

Now for the rest of you (I’d say ‘us’ but I’m placed and happy now) I’ll give you the whole (short) story.

Before the end of the recession in 2008 I was on placement with a Dutch insurance company which; when the recession hit, had to cancel their whole placement scheme. This is how I landed in April 2009 in the middle of a recession year without having anything arranged for my University compulsory placement year. Tough.

I had the choice of giving up that placement year, skipping it and going straight into my final year at uni in September. But I didn’t do that. Why? Because I had some GOALS. I did not choose the 4-year programme for fun, but because I wanted to finish it. And giving up that easily just wasn’t me.

Summer came and I remained in the UK (I’m from Romania) to search for an alternative. So no holiday, no going home, no relaxing this time, but instead I tried to ‘fix my little piece of recession’.

What followed? Well, hundreds of emails & applications, about 20 interviews throughout the summer. I was progressing, getting better at it as I was tracking my self-development, but that just wasn’t enough. Due to the economic climate and the shortage of time (deadline for finding a placement was September 2009) it was clear that I needed some support.

So I went through several ‘agencies’. What happened (as you might very well know) is that usually I registered, I got added to their database, and started getting their newsletter. That’s about all. No contact, not a lot of results, you feel about the same except for feeling more ‘registered’.

The thing with WEXO is that I started getting responses the next 2-4 days after registration. I was contacted directly by companies asking for availability for an interview, phone numbers and all that. Robin Kennedy (founder & CEO of WEXO) met me personally and advised me how I should proceed, and their team always answered all of my emails in a timely manner.

Look, I’m not saying WEXO is the best, because I had several interviews and support from other organisations, on the contrary, it can be even better. But, and it is a big ‘but’ here, they were the people through which I got my placement in London; they responded the fastest; their online system for interacting with the companies is efficient and it allows direct messaging. It clearly shows clear, concise company information. It is these little things that might be just what you need in times like this to get to where you want. It was clearly what I needed.

I’d like to also take this opportunity to thank Robin and his team. You’re there with something that works both ways guys, thank you.

Best regards,

Cristian Paizan, Cambridge