Internships UK
Employers
agree that applicants straight out of university are often entirely unemployable
due to a lack of relevant employment experience and proof of the skills claimed
on their CV. This is backed up by the mountains of rejection letters received
by all but the most 'clued up' graduates upon leaving university. The difficulty
is summed up by Alex, who graduated with a degree in English Literature from
Sussex University
(UK):
"During my time at uni, I was far more interested in enjoying the social life than thinking about what I would do after graduating. After all, getting away to university was an amazing experience and offered a hedonistic lifestyle that I knew could not be repeated later in life (I am not expecting to win the lottery). I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a career, so internships were never at the top of my list of priorities. While my peers were considering what they wanted to do upon finishing their studies, I was not at all sure about my direction.
"This uncertainty led to an unhappy year of call centre work upon finishing university. After a particularly drab day and another mind-numbing 'one to one progress session' with my team leader, I bit the bullet and resigned. That same day, I spent the afternoon hunting for an internship that would propel myself into an interesting career (you get a lot of time to think about these things when you're chained to a computer and telephone!). I ended up doing a month long UK internship with a record company. While this didn't directly land me a job in the music industry, it gave me a great opportunity to see the way press and marketing departments work first hand, and to witness a 'proper job' away from the call centres.
"My internship was a great experience for a number of reasons. Firstly, it gave me a month of relevant experience in three fields: press work, marketing and music (which, as an industry, is a law unto itself) all of which would look excellent on my CV. Secondly, a London internship offers a chance to explore Britain's capital city. Thirdly, it gave me the confidence to go for the jobs that I really wanted. My current work as a copywriter stemmed directly from the experience I gained during that month of cutting out magazine articles, photocopying and popping to the juice bar next door for such unexpected delights as a carrot and apple crush."
When looking for an internship London definitely has the greatest variety in the UK. The city has as many inhabitants as the whole of Sweden and is home to a number of the world's largest companies. When Alex looked for his internship Brighton (his home town) couldn't offer anything like the variety of the British capital city. For him, moving up to the big smoke was all part of the fun.