What have you got planned for your spring break, or your 2020 summer?
It’s not too early to start planning!
If you’re looking to do a summer internship with a large company, you’ll need to start applying now because major deadlines are just around the corner. An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organisation, usually lasting for a fixed, limited period of time. They are typically undertaken by students and graduates looking to gain relevant skills and experience in a particular field.
An internship can be a great way of enhancing and proving your employability – you’ll gain knowledge and experience, which are two of the cornerstones of becoming an employment-ready graduate. More importantly, internships are great for your personal growth. Not only will you learn what kind of task and working environment you respond to, but you’ll also get to work on your own project, and start to see what a valuable difference you can make in the world.
To check out the closing dates for internships at large companies, visit efinancialcareers, e4s, and Bright Network. Bright Network in particular supplies crucial information about the company, location, and salary for each internship scheme, so it is the best place to start.
But getting your application in early is just the first step – to be in with a chance of scoring a competitive internship, you’ll have to craft a competitive application. Application requirements vary by company and scheme, but in general, you’ll be faced with crafting a CV, writing a cover letter, and filling in an application form. You should make sure your application is:
- Relevant
- Evidence-based
- Free from grammatical and spelling errors.
Read our useful application advice on our Keats pages!
The King’s Careers Take:
Pursuing an internship at a large companies is doubtless a great way of getting experience and proving your worth. BUT, they are not the only path to take and, whilst internship schemes are common in the world of finance, banking and law, other sectors have fewer opportunities, and tend to advertise in the spring and summer. Keep an eye out for opportunities on King’s CareerConnect and use this time to sort out your LinkedIn, learn to network, or attend our events. We’ve just launched curated collections on LinkedIn Learning, which you can access for free – check out more details here.
Not everyone can, or wants to, intern – part-time work, volunteering, or working on a student society committee are all great examples of knowledge and experience and can be an equally valuable way of developing your employment skills!
So whether you want to intern at a large company, a smaller company, or not at all – that’s ok.