By Jess Henderson, Careers Manager
This is probably one of the most common conversations I have with students; they want to gain experience or do an internship but can’t find relevant opportunities.
When seeking experience, many people limit their search to vacancy listings, Google searches such as ‘internships in X’ or similar. While searching for opportunity listings should be part of your search strategy (pro-tip: register with the Internship Hub for exclusive opportunities), you should also explore ‘hidden’ opportunities.
Taking a more proactive approach to find ‘hidden’ opportunities is important for several reasons:
- Internship or placement opportunities that are widely advertised are only a small proportion of the market. These are typically offered by larger organisations which tend to be skewed towards certain sectors.
- When searching live vacancies, you’re only seeing opportunities open during that specific application window. Vacancies close and open every day.
- The vast majority (99.9%) of private sector businesses in the UK are small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to the Federation of Small Businesses. These are organisations employing less than 250 people. Many are small businesses (with 0-49 employees). These types of organisations are less likely to have their own internship or work experience programmes so are less likely to advertise opportunities widely (or at all) but are often open to hosting interns.
Many students find internships and experience by proactively researching and contacting organisations in which they’re interested.
There are a few different ways to find organisations that connect to your interests.
- Professional/representative bodies and learned societies: Many such organisations have directories of member organisations. Read ‘9 reasons to engage with professional bodies and learned societies’ to learn how to find relevant organisations.
- LinkedIn: Search for people doing the sort of role you’re seeking, in the location(s) in which you're interested, and look at where they’re working or have worked previously.
- LinkedIn: Use the company search on LinkedIn to view pages of organisations which you already know about. Look at the ‘People also viewed’ section of the company page to find similar organisations which you may not know about.
- Search engines: Searching keywords (eg medical devices, publishing, animation, museums, computer games or whatever your professional interests are) plus relevant locations will give you some company results. Try experimenting with broader as well as more specific search terms.
Keep track of the organisations and companies you find that seem most useful or interesting. Follow them on LinkedIn or other social platforms. Also, consider using a spreadsheet or other document where you can add additional information as you find it and keep track of any approaches you make.
First, check whether they have their own internship or experience programme already. If an organisation offers such a programme, you should apply through that rather than speculatively. If they don’t, or it isn’t clear if they do, you can approach them speculatively.
- Call the company to ask if they are open to taking interns. Calling is more efficient than e-mail as a first step. You’re more likely get a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer straight away. If you just e-mail a generic address, you’re unlikely to hear back. You may then wonder if they don’t take interns or do but haven’t replied or didn’t receive your email. If they say no when you call, at least you know and can move on to the next company.
- Introduce yourself succinctly. For example, ‘My name is Jane, I’m a second-year Psychology student at the University of Glasgow. I’m currently seeking experience in user experience research or design and wondered if you are open to taking interns in this area?’
- Speak to decision-maker. If they respond positively, ask if they can put you through to the relevant person. Note that smaller organisations may not have someone responsible for internships. In this case, ask for a manager or supervisor in a relevant team or department (eg marketing, engineering, etc), depending on your interests.
- If you can speak to the decision-maker, repeat your introduction and the purpose of your call. If they can help, they'll likely ask you to send a CV and further details of what you’re looking for (eg dates, length, areas of interest, etc). If the decision maker isn’t available, ask if you could take their name and contact details to send your enquiry directly to them. If you do this, mention in your message that you called and were directed to them.
- Send CV and cover letter. Whether you've spoken to the person, your next step is usually to send your CV. In your email, briefly introduce yourself and what you are looking for, or remind them of this if you spoke to them. It’s useful to include when you’re hoping to do the internship, for approximately how long, flexibility on these points, areas of their business in which you’re particularly interested and a copy of your CV tailored to that area of work and organisation.
- Follow up. Assume you’ll need to follow up. Set a reminder for about two weeks from the date you sent your CV. If you haven’t heard back from them by that date, call or email referring to your previous call and/or email. Ask if they received your CV and what their thoughts are or whether they need any more information from you.
- Keep track of what your approaches and progress. This is where the spreadsheet in the previous section is useful.
