Getting work experience after graduation
If you’ve recently graduated and haven’t yet been offered a graduate job, you can boost your skills and gain a foothold in the world of work by undertaking a graduate placement or internship. These can help you to make industry contacts, prove yourself to an employer, build your confidence and put you in a stronger position to get a permanent graduate job.
Finding out about graduate placements and work experience opportunities
The Government-backed Graduate Talent Pool is a partnership between the Government and employers to help new and recent graduates find work experience. The scheme was set up specifically to help graduates struggling to find work as a result of the economic conditions.
Graduates can also take part in Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). A KTP is a three-way project between a graduate, a university and an organisation. As a graduate on a KTP you could be recruited to manage a strategic project, lasting from one to three years, or you could undertake a shorter KTP placement, lasting anything from 10 to 40 weeks. Rates of pay are competitive.
The Graduate Step programme, backed by a mixture of universities, government departments and agencies, offers two to three month internships to recent graduates.
Some large companies offer internships and placements specifically for recent graduates and publicise details of these on their websites, so if you are interested in a particular employer, check online to see if there is anything on offer that could be appropriate for you now. Organisations that offer structured work experience schemes tend to make it clear whether undergraduates or graduates are eligible to apply.
How does an internship affect your Jobseeker’s Allowance claim?
Some graduate internships are unpaid and you’ll want to think carefully about your options before taking up one of these. You need to balance the value of the experience against the lack of financial reward. If you are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), taking up an internship may affect your entitlement.
You can continue to claim JSA if your internship involves up to 16 hours’ work a week. If it involves more than 16 hours a week, you may no longer be eligible to claim JSA.
If you graduated in 2009 and have been claiming JSA for six months or more, you may be able to claim a training allowance while doing an unpaid or expenses-only internship.
You can only claim the training allowance, which is equivalent to JSA, if your internship is advertised through the Graduate Talent Pool. These internships are particularly likely to be with charities or in the voluntary sector.
If you are on a placement and claiming JSA or a training allowance, you must continue to look for work and be prepared to leave the internship if you’re offered a job.
