Insight Days
Insight Days
Career insight days provide an opportunity to experience what it is like to work in a professional environment and learn about an organisation’s structure and culture.
Many large organisations have started to offer structured insight days, or weeks, typically aimed at first year students. These tend to take place over Easter or summer, and can go by different names, such as spring weeks (banking sector) or vacation schemes (legal sector).
It’s possible to gain an insight into working in a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME), however this is more likely to be through arranging work shadowing.
Benefits of doing an insight day
Insight days can help you to:
- develop commercial awareness
- understand the culture of a particular organisation, which can help you tailor your applications for further experience or graduate jobs
- learn about different opportunities and roles within an organisation, to help you decide where your future career interests lie
- provide evidence of your motivation to work in the sector when applying for graduate jobs
- make contacts within the sector and potentially arrange further work experience where you can take a more practical role
Insight days don’t tend to be paid, as you’re not employed, or completing significant work for the organisation. However, they usually cover expenses such as travel and lunch. Opportunities which last a week or longer are more likely to offer payment.
When to apply
Applications for insight days tend to open in September and some may still be available up to March. Opportunities with large companies can be competitive and will close early in some sectors, particularly banking.
CVs, applications and LinkedIn profiles provides useful advice on how to write an effective CV, covering letter and application form.
Finding opportunities
- Careers Service: Events - can include insight days and events aimed at first years
- Student Ladder – work placements for first year students in a range of sectors
- Rate My Placement – insight programmes for first year students, mostly in finance and law
- e4s: First year internships
- Rare Recruitment – recruitment agency offering a series of introductory career programmes for first year BME undergraduates interested in law, banking and consulting.
You could also consider work shadowing as a way to arrange a practical insight into your area of interest. Making contacts has information on building up your network can allow you to explore industry contacts.