Work experience
Work experience
Work experience can offer you the opportunity to earn money, develop skills and acquire experience relevant to your future career or test out a particular field to see if you would like to work in it.
You can count any paid or unpaid work in any country towards your Award, including part-time work in term time or at home during the holidays, as long as you've done it during your time as a student at University of Exeter.
If you run your own business you can also count this work, providing the business is actually trading. Please contact the Exeter Award team at exeteraward@exeter.ac.uk and describe the work you are doing, including some kind of proof of trading (i.e. link to a website/business card/invoices/testimonial from client or other) where possible.
The following internships are eligible:
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Other work schemes run by the University, including the Global Leaders Experiences, Community Engagement Officers and Student Ambassadors;
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You can count up to 15 hours from Virtual Experience Programmes at Forage;
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Any international work placement;
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Internships arranged as part of your Academic Course;
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Internships arranged externally via direct employer recruitment - Search on Handshake.
Information on local job opportunities are available on Handshake.
Volunteering
You can count any formal volunteering placement with a recognised charity or community organisation in any country towards your Award, as long as you've done it during your time as a student at University of Exeter.
You will need to complete 35 hours of volunteering and sport or music activities and/or work experience.
Most volunteering experience is accepted for the Exeter Award, but if you're unsure about whether your experience counts, please get in touch with the Exeter Award team by asking a question in My Career Zone.
Volunteering activities associated with the University that count include:
- Fundraising activity with Raise and Give, UNICEF and other charitable fundraising societies.
- Volunteering with Exeter Student Volunteers
- Grand Challenges / Challenges Online
- Participating in a Students as Change Agents project
- International Summer School buddy scheme
- Academic Representation (for more info, Streatham and St Luke's students can visit the Guild website or email voice@exeterguild.com, and Penryn and Truro students can visit the SU website or email studentvoice@thesu.org.uk)
- Student Ambassadors Scheme
- Bill Douglas Centre
- Exeter Student Nightline
- Exeter Care Homes Reading Project (English Department) - email Dr Johanna Harris for further details
- Archive Service opportunities, Penryn campus
- Peer Mentor on a Peer Support Programme
- You can count 5 hours from participating with the Undergraduate Research Showcase
- Residence Life Mentor
- Participating with an Enactus project.
Facilitating music means contributing something definite to the functioning or organisation of a musical ensemble or society, e.g.
- setting up a new group;
- directing, teaching (e.g. clarinet choir beginners) or conducting;
- helping with the organisation of a non-society ensemble;
- holding any committee post in a music society.
Performance by itself does not count towards your 35 hours work experience.
If you are not an elected officer of a society, but can demonstrate that you have spent the required number of hours assisting in the running of a society as a volunteer, (for example, driving the minibus or distributing hundreds of concert fliers) then these things can also be counted provided you can document them.
Facilitating sport means making a quantifiable difference by organising, promoting or improving a club. Taking part in matches or training sessions does not count, but you can use the following activities:
- organising or leading training sessions;
- holding any committee post in an AU club or society;
- attending specific seminars on nutrition/time management/drug awareness etc.
Visit the Exeter Sports Theme to find out more about the sport activities that can count towards the Exeter Award.