An internship is a period of work experience offered by an employer to give students and graduates exposure to the working environment, often within a specific industry, which relates to their field of study.
Internships can be as short as a week or as long as 12 months. They can be paid or voluntary; however, before you start an internship it’s important to know your rights with regards to getting paid.
Work Experience and Internships
Before committing to the idea of an internship it is best to research which path is best for you, it is worth noting that you could potentially run an internship alongside university studies, though this would be something to discuss with your employer. Internships provide you with a unique opportunity to gain experience that you otherwise might not be able to get. To get started and learn more about internships have a look at the resource from Prospects, which you can find here or the resource from Sheffield Hallam University which you can find here.
Finding an Internship
If you think an internship could be the right path for you there are a couple of ways to go about securing one, the first is to contact the company you want to intern with directly, if they have capacity to take you on then the direct approach can often work. The second option if you are unsure of what is available to you is to use the GOV Find an Internship website, which can be found here.
