Finding work experience
- Work experience in the North East
- Work experience in the UK
- Global work experience
- Speculative applications
- Unpaid work experience
- Need more help?
Work experience in the North East
- Vacancies Online - search for part-time jobs, summer internships and year long industrial placements
- Newcastle Work Experience - paid summer and term-time placements with local businesses
- Passport to Work - work shadowing in the hospitality and retail sectors
- North East Graduate Directory - database of local organisations who offer work experience or accept speculative applications
- Career Development module - work experience for academic credit
Work experience in the UK
- Prospects: Work experience
- TARGETjobs: Work experience
- Fledglings.net - student internships
- RateMyPlacement - find placements and read reviews by students
- Year in Industry - year long industrial placements
- Inspiring Interns - all year round internships
- Enternships - internships and graduate positions in entrepreneurial environments
- StudentJob - internships and summer work for students and graduates
- Give A Grad A Go - internships for graduates, mostly based in London
- STEP - UK wide project based work placements for students and graduates
- Graduate Talent Pool - for graduates of the last three years
- hotrecruit - seasonal, part time, temporary work
- (✔)DisabilityToolKits - advice and work experience opportunities specifically for disabled students.
- Inside Careers - information and internships in Business, Finance, Engineering and Technology
- Top Internships - for students and graduates
- Researchers in Residence - UK placement scheme placing PhD and post-doctoral researchers in secondary schools.
Global work experience
- Going Global - global internship listings
- Global Placements
- AIPT - a variety of work experience/internship opportunities in the USA
- ihipo - international career networking and internships
- Projects Abroad - volunteer projects for gap years, electives and summer placements
- IAESTE - work placements for UK resident engineering, science and architecture students
- Vulcanus in Japan - an EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Co-operation placement programme for engineering or science students.
- RISE - summer internship program for undergraduate science or engineering students to research in Germany.
- InterExchange jobs - paid internships and J-1 visa sponsorship for the USA. Includes a $100 non-refundable application-processing fee.
- AIESEC - global international 'work abroad' exchange programme for students. There is an application fee of £275 - £350 to view available placements.
- Working outside the UK - information about working abroad and resources for finding vacancies
Speculative applications
Not all jobs are advertised! In fact, many people create work experience opportunities through networking or by developing their own business ideas. Making a speculative approach to a company can also be an effective way to secure a job. Once you have identified a company you would like to work for you should approach them about possible vacancies. This is often done through an initial phone call or e-mail and followed up with a CV and covering letter. Visit our Making applications for hints and tips on presenting yourself successfully on paper.
Unpaid work experience
Some competitive occupational areas can be difficult to break into without first gaining experience through working on an unpaid basis. Such areas include media, politics, journalism, and the creative arts.
If you are considering working on an unpaid basis, then you may have questions about your employment or payment rights. The following websites give information about unpaid work experience:
- AllAboutCareers: Know Your Rights – article on pay entitlements for placements, internships and work experience.
- Nottingham University: paid or unpaid work experience – links to recent news articles and includes a list of questions to ask yourself before accepting an unpaid position.
- Manchester University: employment rights – covers how to structure your work experience and questions about expenses.
- Direct.gov: The National Minimum Wage – sets out legislation and payment entitlement, as well as where to get further help.
- Rightsforinterns.org – Trade Union Congress (TUC) website covering questions about whether or not interns should be paid.
- INTERNSHIPS: An Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) Position Statement [PDF: 81.6KB].
Need more help?
- Exploring Occupations - resources to find sector specific work experience, scholarship opportunities or competitions
- Finding vacancies - see the part-time/seasonal vacancies section
- Volunteering - volunteering opportunities and benefits
If you need more help finding work experience come in and talk to us - no appointment needed.