Internships

About

Internships provide an opportunity to gain graduate level work experience, typically during the summer vacation or during term-time.

Many large companies target their internships at undergraduate students in their second, or penultimate, year of study. About a third of their graduate positions are filled by students who have completed an internship or placement year with them. Some internships are also open to graduates.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) also offer internships, although these are not always advertised.

The Careers Service organises a range of internships, both on campus and with SMEs in the North East. These are available throughout the year.

Benefits of doing an internship

Internships can help you to:

gain hands-on experience and develop industry knowledge, providing useful evidence for your skills and motivation when you apply for graduate jobs
decide where your future career interests lie
gain an insight into UK business culture
make contacts within the sector; some students secure graduate jobs with their internship provider
gain positive feedback and references, useful for future applications

Many internships are paid or provide a bursary; the Careers Service doesn’t advertise unpaid internships. You can find advice on our website about funding for unpaid work experience.

When to apply

Applications for large companies start to open in September, the year before the internship will take place. They start to close between November and February. This is usually to allow for quite a lengthy application process.

Internships organised by the Careers Service will be advertised on MyCareer throughout the academic year, with term-time internships advertised from October and summer internships from March.

Some companies recruit all year round, particularly SMEs, but it is best to start looking as early as possible.

See Finding internships to search for opportunities.

CVs, applications and LinkedIn profiles provides useful advice on how to write an effective CV, covering letter and application form.

Further information

Events to look out for

Recruitment events are not just for graduate jobs. Most employers at our events also offer internships, so it's worth attending to find out more about their opportunities.

At our recruitment events and employer and sector insights, you can hear about their internship schemes, build your network and ask questions.

We also list events from external organisations. These can include opportunities to find out about work experience.

Guides and advice

The following resources also include advice, case studies and employer profiles:

rss Experience Newcastle blog

Read tips and advice from Newcastle University Careers Service

Finding Internships

The two most common ways of finding internships are applying for advertised opportunities and seeking out hidden ones by networking and applying speculatively.

The Careers Service advertises internships on MyCareer. Log in to search for internships and sign up for personalised email alerts.

Search for internships

Use the resources below to look for advertised paid internships.

NCL Internships

The Careers Service organises a range of internships, both off campus with local businesses and on campus with Newcastle University. These are in a range of occupational areas, from marketing and research to IT and project management, the NCL Internships Example Work Assignments (PDF:163KB) document details some of our previous internships. They are designed to be flexible around your timetable and are available throughout the year.

To search for these opportunities, go to MyCareer, click on 'Search' then 'Vacancies' and type ‘NCL Internships’ in the text search box.

Internships around the UK

Use the following resources to find advertised vacation internships around the UK:

MyCareer - select 'vacation internships' under 'vacancy type'
Prospects – select ‘work experience’ under ‘types of jobs’
targetjobs
Bright Network - search for internships and placement years
RateMyPlacement – includes student reviews
Student Ladder – lists opportunities for first, second and final year students
Milkround
10,000 Interns Foundation - paid summer internships for students or recent graduates who are Black African, Black Caribbean and/or Black British. Applications open in August and close in October
TheJobCrowd – select ‘work experience’ or ‘internship’ under ‘job type’
AllAboutCareers
Jobted
The Big Choice.com: Placements
Graduate-Jobs.com: Internships
LinkedIn – in the ‘advanced search’ feature, select ‘internships’ under the experience level
E4S – internships and placements in the UK and abroad
STEP – UK wide project based work placements for students and graduates
EmployAbility – advice and work experience opportunities specifically for disabled students
Change 100 – three month paid summer internships for students and graduates with disabilities or long-term health conditions
Placement UK – paid placements for European students in the UK
Instant Impact – internships with small and medium-sized enterprises
ScotGrad – Highlands and Islands Summer Internships. Open to undergraduates at any UK university

Global internships

For overseas internships, see Global Work Experience.

Search for sector specific opportunities

Finding work experience in a specific sector is often arranged through speculative applications, however, you can also find resources targeting specific industries, for example, Inside Careers advertises internships in finance, insurance and patents.

To find internships in a particular sector, visit Explore Occupations.

Opportunities for first year students

Many large companies target their internships at second or penultimate year students, but they can also offer insight programmes for first year students. If they don’t specify which year groups can apply, you could contact them to clarify whether you are eligible, or just apply anyway.

The Careers Service runs a work shadowing scheme for first year students during the Easter vacation, which includes a day’s shadowing with a local graduate employer. Applications for these will open in Semester 2.

To find opportunities, in addition to using other resources on this page, you could try:

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
Manchester University Careers Service – list spring internships for first year students
consider work shadowing as a way to gain a practical insight into your area of interest
making contacts – building up your network can allow you to explore industry contacts
external events – can include insight days and events aimed at first year students

Opportunities for graduates

Most internships are aimed at current students, but there are also opportunities for graduates interested in gaining experience. If a company doesn’t explicitly state that they only recruit students, you could contact them to check if you are eligible, or just apply anyway.

The Careers Service organises internships for graduates with local and regional employers. These are advertised on MyCareer throughout the year.

To find graduate opportunities, in addition to using other resources on this page, you could try:

STEP – UK wide project based work placements for students and graduates
Grad Jobs: Work Placement – internships for graduates
Inspiring Interns – agency specialising in graduate jobs and internships
Change 100 – three month paid summer internships for graduates with disabilities or long-term health conditions

Regional Jobs includes work experience schemes across the UK, mostly for graduates.

Making useful contacts in your industry can help you find the right people to speak to about hidden opportunities.

See speculative applications for information on applying to companies directly.

Speculative applications

Not all internships are advertised. In fact, many people create opportunities through networking and making contacts, or by developing their own business ideas.

If you have identified a company you would like to work for, you could try approaching them directly about possible opportunities. Send them a tailored CV and covering letter, expressing your enthusiasm for the sector and showing that you have researched the company.

Where possible, identify a contact name to address your covering letter to. Call or email to find out who is responsible for recruitment within the organisation or a key contact in the department you want to work in.

It’s useful to follow up a speculative application with a phone call a few days afterwards to show you are serious and motivated.

TARGETjobs have a useful guide about making a speculative application to find hidden internships.

Finding companies

Find organisations on MyCareer - click on ‘search organisations’ under the Vacancies tab
Researching employers – contains sources of company profiles and a list of business directories and databases
Explore Occupations – find employer directories for specific sectors
LinkedIn – an online networking tool allowing users to connect with professionals across all industries
LinkedIn's Find Alumni tool can help you find organisations Newcastle graduates are working in

Other ways to find internships

Academic schools sometimes offer internships, for example through research scholarships. There are also opportunities through externally-funded vacation studentship schemes, eg through research institutes and charities. For science-related scholarships, see our Life Science and Physical Science sector pages. Ask your school if they run similar schemes or have contacts you could approach.

The Business School offer global experience internships as part of their Global Experience Opportunity programme. They also advertise internships and placements on their Student Experience Blog.

Some student competitions, such as TARGETjobs’ Undergraduate of the Year, offer a paid internship as a prize.

Forage offers free virtual internship programs built and endorsed by leading companies, such as KPMG, Deloitte, PwC and Unilever. They contain a series of resources and tasks designed to simulate the real-world experience of starting a career. You can add them to your CV as achievements, and as certificates on LinkedIn, but Forage advises not to include them in your main work experience section. For more information about describing your experience, view Forage's Referencing Policy.

For information about virtual internships, watch the SRS Recruitment and Employability Experts' guide to Everything you need to know about virtual internships (39:55)