Application Season: Worried about summer internships? Read this guide!

Recently, the number of students worried about their applications for summer internship deadlines has increased. Whilst it is true that a lot of internships had opened in autumn, there are still a lot of major companies who’s looking for the perfect candidate for summer 2023. I spoke to one of our resident career consultants, Andrea Cox, and gained some insights on what proactive steps you can take to help you secure a placement for the summer! 

Keeping track of deadlines 

When applying for internships, it is important to keep on top of deadlines. You can track your progress and job application deadlines with something as simple as a calendar reminder on your phone, or a google sheets document, or using an application tracker on Notion. Bright Network has an application deadlines page, with internships from a wide variety of sectors, available here.  

Expanding your knowledge of the labour market 

It’s important to build up your knowledge of the field you’re interested in. King’s Careers & Employability has provided a labour market update for most fields, and the recordings on those sessions can be found on the KEATS pages.  

Researching  

There are a multitude of smaller companies that are looking for summer internship candidates as well, but these job positions might not be as widely advertised. Andrea Cox has crafted an amazing spreadsheet that helps guide students through the process of employer research. This step-by-step guide can allow you to evaluate what kind of companies you’re looking to work for. Her recommendation is that students can spend two half days completing the spreadsheet, which will then be a great tool to have for the rest of the year.  

This will also help with interview questions such as: “What research have you undertaken to help you understand the company and the position you’ve applied for?” 

Make speculative applications 

If you’ve found a company that you’re eager to work for, but they do not currently have a job advertised, you can send a speculative application! More details on how to apply for an unadvertised job can be found here.


In addition, remember that summer internships are not the only type of work experience you can obtain during your time at university! There are many students who obtain knowledge and develop their skills through summer jobs or part time jobs as well. If you’re a student who’s looking for such opportunities, and need guidance, book an appointment with our career consultants on King’s Careers Connect!