Green Consultants

Our students are keen to assist in a whole range of sustainability activities, in any sector.

Previous projects have included:

• Carbon accounting - if you are a small organisation, our students can help calculate your carbon emissions 
• Waste and Resource Management - a student could help research options for sustainable technologies e.g. solar panels
• Communication - a student devise a social media campaign to communicate your sustainability actions to your clients
• Business and culture - a student could draft your ESG policies

We will be happy to discuss any other project ideas you have. 

Programme structure:

1. Students undertake online learning. 
2. Students undertake a group project for the university
3. Students undertake an internship for external organisations

Employer Process:

1. Contact us for a proposal form if you would like a free Green Consultant Intern for 35 hours
2. Employers will be informed if your application has been successful
3. Employers will be sent the CV of their Green Consultant
4. The internship takes place to suit employer and student

We work with many types of organisations to host our Interns, who can meet the following criteria:

• UK SMEs, NFP or charitable organisation
• An organisation of good reputation
• A supportive employer
• Have suitable liability insurance
• Will conduct a Risk Assessment with the Intern, to include home working and/or COVID-19 factors (HSE guidance will be provided)
• Permit us to share details of your company, your selected Intern and the internship with our funders.

If you are interested in hosting a Green Consultant intern in the future, contact the team at GreenConsultants@exeter.ac.uk to register your interest.

You will be asked to complete a form outlining the work you would like your intern to complete.

Before our students are eligible for an internship with you, they have already completed comprehensive online training and have honed their skills in an on-campus project, so we know that they come to you as a capable and able addition to your team. 

We will promote all the selected vacancies to our students, so they can express an interest in the organisations that best suit their career aspirations. We will then make the final match, allocating a student to each Green Consultancy vacancy.

Most students on the Green Consultancy programme will undertake a 1 week internship, for which all 3 parties will need to sign a Student Secondment Agreement. For the small number of organisations hosting postgraduates on their 3-week placement, you will need to sign a Placement Agreement.

Your Green Consultant Intern will have completed a comprehensive introduction to sustainability consultancy before coming to you. 

We ask that you as an employer prepare for your intern by putting together a support package:

1. Conduct a risk assessment. As this is a short internship, this can be light touch and be as simple as a conversation confirmed in writing or you can use the risk assessment forms we wil provide you.
2. Undertake an induction to your workplace. Again this can be light touch or you can use some or all of our Internship Induction Checklist.
3. Prepare a workspace for your intern and a computer. If this is a problem please let us know.
4. Provide access to relevant company data.
5. Introduce the Intern to the team and identify who they can go to for information and support, in the Line Manager's absence.
6. Set up regular catch up meetings with the Intern's Line Manager.
7. You may also wish to read our guide on Making the Most of Your Intern.

All students are required to submit a reflective report on their period of work experience. For students using the internship to fulfil academic requirements, this will be used as an assessed piece of work. If the work the student will be undertaking is sensitive please let us know so this can be managed for reflective report.

The Green Consultants team will be available the whole internship to support you and your intern should this be required.

Your Green Consultant Intern will be fully-funded by the University of Exeter and paid through our eClaims payment system. the Intern will be seconded to your organisation.

If you wish to extend the internship, you will need to fund the internship and pay the student through your payroll system.

At the end of the internship week we ask that you please complete an Internship Feedback Form - Employer Submission and encourage your intern to complete their Internship Feedback Form - Intern Submission too. These will be emailed to you towards the end of the internship, your comments will be taken into account during our evaluation exercise.

To read how Green Consultants have helped local employers with sustainability projects please see the Green Consultants case studies.  

The development of the Green Consultants programme is supported by the Industry Advisory Group. Find out more about the group and its work in the Green Consultant Industry Group webpage.