Careers and your future
Real work experience
Employers value work experience, whether it’s a work placement, vacation work, university internship, summer internship, short-term project work or casual work. Structured placements and internships will help you to develop business acumen and may also help you develop specific skills that will be useful in your chosen career.
Exeter offers excellent opportunities to gain real business experience; even if your degree doesn’t include a placement as a core element of the course, there are many opportunities to get real work experience.
We work with regional, national and international employers to develop work placements and project opportunities and we have work placement coordinators based in academic departments who will support you in organising placements and internships.
If you take these opportunities you will develop many of the top attributes sought by employers such as communication and presentation skills; time and self-management skills; teamwork, problem solving and project management skills. For further information please see the careers website.
The training and business experience opportunities described below are open to students in both Exeter and Cornwall.
- Internships and partnerships – Structured placements and internships will help you to develop business acumen and may also help you develop specific skills that will be useful in your chosen career.
- Work experience modules as part of your degree – Many of our degrees include a work experience module as an integral part of the programme. But for those that don’t, you can opt to do one of the generic Independent Work Experience modules. Through either paid or voluntary work placements, the module will help you to develop the transferable skills essential for your future employability.
- Exeter Student Ambassador Scheme – This scheme employs students as ambassadors to give potential university applicants a student’s view of university life. Ambassadors take part in a variety of activities including: visiting schools and colleges in the South West, giving tours of the campuses to prospective students and their parents, attending Higher Education Fairs, and helping out with University Open Days.
- Career Mentor Scheme – Aimed at second year students who are entrepreneurial, this scheme aims to match you with a mentor from business or an alumnus who can help you develop networks or contacts, help you plan your career and develop your employability.
Benefits of combining work and study
Apart from the obvious benefit of providing you with money, having a part-time job can provide you with an important addition to your CV: experience. It is not so much a matter of what you do but what you have learnt from it and your ability to demonstrate this to a future employer. There are two basic kinds of work experience: general and specific. General experience can be gained in any job and will help you develop skills such as: time-keeping; learning how to deal with colleagues, working as part of a team, problem solving and commercial awareness. It helps enormously to be able to show your future graduate employer that you actually know what it's like having a job. Specific work experience is experience in a field that you want a career in. Showing that you have already done work in a certain field or environment will help convince employers you are serious about that career path.
As a Student Ambassador, not only do I get to meet lots of different people from across the university, but the role has helped me to develop my confidence and communication skills. I have also benefited from being assigned a mentor in the legal profession, and have enjoyed getting involved in the variety of pro bono work organised by the Law School. I have made several trips to London, including visiting 11 Downing Street, and have attended various dinners and networking events that have really opened my eyes to the prospects that an Exeter degree gives you. Exeter has so much to offer, there is something for everyone in terms of societies; my personal favourites are the Debating Society, Bracton Law Society and the Dance Society. Being a campus university there is a very noticeable community atmosphere. Yet, the town centre is so close by, which is great for getting part-time jobs or just for a wander around the shops!
What I will remember most about my time at Exeter are the little things. Yes, you study for a degree at a highly respected institution, and you try to make yourself as employable as possible. But studying in Exeter, you walk to lectures and pass a squirrel, you have BBQs on the beach in Exmouth, you meet great friends and you learn a lot about yourself. You get involved because you want to and you take advantage of every opportunity that is presented to you. The skills I have developed and the friends I have made have had an enormous impact on me. It has been an amazing experience.
Natasha Bellinger, LLB Law Student, Third year
The University is always there to help you build your CV. One thing they did for me was help to find me a STEP placement. They’re paid internships in a professional environment and there were so many on offer that it was simple to find one that I was interested in. You can find a placement in business, marketing, media; so many industries are involved.
I was lucky enough to work for Exeter University’s Marketing Department for eight weeks as a copywriter. My job was to write a guide for prospective students to Exeter and Devon, so I spent the summer out and about researching, or typing up articles. I learnt a great amount of things about working to deadlines and writing professionally. I also gained many transferable skills and my computer proficiency has benefited hugely.
It’s given me the confidence to know what I want to do in the future, and how to go about presenting myself and applying for jobs. Work experience is a great polish to your CV to show that you’ve worked professionally, and the money I earned didn’t hurt either.
Alex Quayle, 3rd year BA English. Read Alex’s Guide to Exeter
