Why work experience?
Work experience is an established path to securing a placement year and graduation. You can gain work experience through employer insight programmes primarily aimed at year 1 and 2 students and short term internships over summer primarily aimed at year 2 and 3 students.
Your university degree and extra-curricular activities will help equip you with some fantastic skills for employment after you graduate, but more and more employers are looking for proven skills through work experience.
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Where do I look for opportunities?
Even if your course does not include a compulsory work placement, many work placement programmes can be completed during your Easter or Summer break.
Work experience opportunities will be advertised on the Employability Portal. Many employers seeking graduates also advertise work experience opportunities on their website under ‘careers’.
Internships
There is sometimes confusion around what is an internship? Let’s separate fact from fiction:
- An internship is a period of work experience, offered by an organisation, usually lasting for a fixed, limited period of time.
- There’s an emphasis on on-the-job training, and internships can be paid or unpaid.
- It’s typically undertaken by students and graduates looking to gain relevant skills and experience in a particular field.
The benefits of completing an internship are boundless – they provide you with invaluable insights into organisations and help you gain employability skills and make your CV and job applications stand out to employers. No matter what year you are in it’s never too early or late to start thinking about applying for an internship.
Final year students can register to view graduate internships provided through two programmes:
- Graduate Leadership Programme offers 6 month paid internships combined with a fully-funded Postgraduate Certificate in Graduate Leadership. It starts in September with a Bursary of £1,100 per month.
- Santander SME Internship Programme offers full-time and part-time opportunities with local small to medium sized organisations. Internships are between 4 and 8 weeks with a Bursary of £315 per week (based on a 35-hour week).