Vacation work and work experience

Most undergraduate and graduate students need to earn money in the vacations and if your vacation work can be related to your longer term career aims then it will be doubly useful! This page includes resources on looking for paid work and also work experience (some of which will be paid) throughout the UK and also overseas. If you know which career path you would like to gain experience in then it may be useful to use one of the specialist Employment Sector career pages. Many organisations which offer graduate jobs also offer vacation schemes for undergraduates. These are usually very competitive and closing dates can be as early as November.

STEP programme

Of special note is the STEP programme (see below) which offers paid 8 week placements - mainly for second year undergraduates throughout the country. However, many students will find vacation employment near their homes using employment agencies and Job Centre Plus.

Job and Information Sources

• Prospects Job Vacancies
• TARGETjobs Vacancies

Reference Books available from the Careers and Employment Service collection: Summer Jobs Worldwide, Vault Top Internships.

Additional Resources

General:

• STEP Enterprise Scheme - summer placements for 2nd/penultimate year students throughout the UK.
• Cymru Prosper Wales - summer placements in Wales (similar to STEP).
• BBC Work Experience scheme.
• Grad South West - site includes vacation jobs.
• Graduate Recruitment Bureau – a leading graduate recruitment consultancy lists placements and work experience.
• Fish4jobs - work placements, internships and part-time jobs for students throughout the UK and abroad.
• Kareeve - agency highlighting seasonal job vacancies.
• Work Experience - Prospects site for work experience placements and vacation work, they provide an overview of different types of work experience as well as listing opportunities.
• The Dots - Jobs site and network for people working in the UK.
• Studentjob - nationwide and some overseas placements.
• Employment4Students - listing of student friendly job agencies.

Discipline/Sector Specific:

• Legal placements - Prospects site.
• BioCareers - useful resource for STEMM postgraduates, including links to sources of vacation job funding in the microbiology field.

Under-represented Groups:

• Windsor Fellowships - summer placement and personal programme for undergraduates from ethnic minorities in their first long vacation.
• EmployAbility supports, advises and advocates on behalf of talented neuro-divergent and disabled university students and graduates to remove barriers to in employment and list jobs from their partner organisations.
• #10000 Black Interns aims to provide 2000 internships a year for five years.
• Blind In Business supports blind and visually impaired students and graduates into the workplace, and works with businesses to challenge any misconceptions they might have.
• Creative Access supports talented people from under-represented groups to enter and thrive in the creative industries. They list internship and work experience opportunities.

International:

• ihipo - jobs/internships for internationally-minded students and graduates, they also provide tips on international recruitment processes.
• English Speaking Union - grants and scholarships available for projects abroad - local contact L.Burbridge@exeter.ac.uk.
• IAESTE UK - international work placements for science and engineering students.
• Council on International Educational Exchange - information and addresses for vacation jobs and internships in the USA.
• Mountbatten Scholarships - 12 month business internships in USA.
• BUNAC - work and travel programmes in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
• Travel Tree - directory of jobs, travel and internships.
• For Overseas Travel and Work Schemes see Global Employability

Virtual

• The Forage provides short virtual internships in a range of sectors, with opportunities to connect with employers.
• The Bright Network provides virtual internships in a range of sectors and fast-track opportunities for graduate programmes and internships for virtual-intern alumni.