25 October 2018
Fantastic Internships and Where to Find Them
Vernon Dursley must have felt very foolish by book seven. By The Deathly Hallows Part II, he realised he had really fluffed it.
As it turned out, there was such thing as magic, enough for eight films, a stage play and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
With Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald hitting screens, it offered us a marvellous opportunity to put together a Potter/Fantastic Beasts-themed guide to finding undergraduate work experience.
This is Fantastic Internships and Where to Find Them… your magical guide to undergraduate work experience.
Internships
DURATION: 4-16 weeks
FOR: All students
WHEN TO APPLY: Sep-Mar
Internships can last anywhere between one and four months, and the majority take place during the summer. They are open to all undergraduates, although most interns tend to be first or second year students.
Employers use these paid internships to unearth future talent and potential candidates for their graduate schemes. In fact, a report from the Institute of Student Employers revealed that 57% of interns were offered jobs on graduate schemes.
As Ron Weasley would say – bloody brilliant.
Where to find them:
Newt Scamander travelled all the way to New York in search of fantastic beasts. But if you’re looking for a summer internship, you need only travel to our jobs page.
Placements
DURATION: 5-13 months
FOR: 2nd years
WHEN TO APPLY: Sep-May
Placements have many names – you might hear them referred to as ‘sandwich placements’, ‘industrial placements’ a ‘placement year’ or a ‘year in industry’.
Students spend an entire year working for an organisation as a full-time (and paid) employee, before returning to university to finish their degree.
A placement is an opportunity for you to get significant professional experience. It will really make a difference when it comes to applying for graduate jobs.
If there were placements in the magical world, Hermione definitely would have applied. So would Harry. Ron would have followed, before failing the phone interview (having never used a phone).
Where to find them:
There are still placements available in May, however some of the most sought-after schemes will be filled before the new year. Best to start your search today…
Insights
DURATION: 1-10 days
FOR: Primarily 1st years
WHEN TO APPLY: Sep-Mar
Insight schemes are short periods of work experience that take place during the easter break. In the finance sector, they are called ‘spring weeks’.
They are designed for first years, although second year students can still apply. The typical activities of an insight scheme include work shadowing, short projects, presentations and working with multiple teams across an organisation.
An insight will give you a taste of what it’s like to work in a particular sector, or for a specific company.
If J.K. Rowling were to pen another Harry Potter book, she just might call it Harry Potter and the Goblet of Insight Schemes.
Where to find them:
You don’t need The Marauders Map to find work experience at university – we have a wide-range of insights (across all industries) available on our jobs page!
You can find live vacancies for internships, placements and insights schemes on our jobs page. Click the button below to view them all!
