A guide to your work experience options
Vacation placements, internships, work shadowing… take a look at the typical work experience options you’re most likely to come across.
Work experience tops every graduate employer’s wishlist, so take a look at the main options you’ll come across in graduate recruiting:
1. Placements
The term ‘placement’ is loosely applied to any formal, structured work experience. Graduate employers in professions such as engineering and construction often offer placements over the summer vacation. Increasingly, placements are also becoming a necessary part of vocational degrees.
Organisations that offer placements typically have a structured scheme which could include working on a specific project or gaining a working knowledge of various departments. Early application deadlines are common and the competition is tough, so try to find out about placement schemes well in advance, eg at the start of the academic year in which you want to do the summer placement.
2. Internships
Internships are essentially the same as placements but the term is preferred in business sectors such as IT, investment banking and finance. For some, these are the crème de la crème of work experience opportunities. Internships are usually undertaken in the summer between the penultimate and final year and the pay is usually good.
The big players of graduate recruitment that offer internships and they attract high calibre applicants. Again, you need to do your research into internships well in advance so that you don’t miss application deadlines.
3. Sandwich courses
This kind of work experience is a year of work/study sandwiched somewhere between your first two years and final year at university, for example, a year abroad as part of a language degree.
Sandwich placements are also often known as industrial placements as they are more typically a part of engineering, science and construction-related degree courses. Those doing industrial placements are paid a reasonable wage by their employer during the year. Universities should have a placement tutor or industrial liaison officer to help you arrange your year in industry.
4. Vacation placements
Essentially a placement that’s specifically designed to fit in between your university terms. Vacation placements are a great way to try new things outside of term-time study, whether it’s during your spring, summer or winter vacation. These placements are usually paid and structured to fit your university vacation dates, running between two to eight weeks.
5. Gap years
Gap years give students the opportunity to take a year out immediately after graduation. Getting down to the local travel agents and asking for cheap flights to Australia is the usual first port of call, but with the right mind-set a gap year can develop many employer-attracting skills and competences.
Knowledge and experience of other countries, and especially of working in other countries, can be very beneficial in an increasingly global graduate marketplace.
6. Part-time or casual work
Work experience doesn’t have to come in a formal package with a fancy name. Casual or part-time work while at university or over the holidays can help to fund your degree while also helping you gain important skills. Whether it’s working in a bar or office temping, you can use your experience to illustrate anything including difficult situations overcome, customer service skills, teamwork and business acumen. Organisations love to recruit a diverse range of people, and experience gained from a part-time job can often be the source of unique examples to talk about in application forms or at interviews.
7. Voluntary work
Voluntary work is essentially giving your services for free. In the case of charities and conservation work, your passion and commitment will impress potential graduate employers. You may even be able to help out in a role that’s close to your chosen career route, such as finance, IT or press relations. But volunteering can also be the way into media, such as TV, PR or magazines, where starting from the bottom can often be the only way in.
8. Work shadowing
Work shadowing is a much shorter form of work experience that involves closely observing a professional in their daily working life (usually spending one day to one week with them) to see if their job interests you and to get a personal view on working life in a career area that interests you.
9. Work tasters
A work taster is another short form of work experience that’s more hands-on than work shadowing. Some employers offer these, often in conjunction with careers services, to give you an insight into job roles or business departments.
Find out more about work experience
Find out more about work experience in different career sectors and professions
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