How to Get an InternshipvPlacement Booklet by JJ Aug12

7/28/2019 How to Get an InternshipvPlacement Booklet by JJ Aug12

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Booklets produced byCareers & Employabil ity50 Park Place.

Booklets sponsored by

CareersInformation,

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How to Get A

Placement/Internship

Helpingtoansweryour

questions


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Last updated August 2012

CONTENTS

Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1

What Do We Mean by Placements/Internships? ................................................. 1

Before You Apply ................................................................................................ 3

Finding Vacancies . 4

The Application Process ..................................................................................... 4

Work Experience ................................................................................................. 7

Making the Application - The DOs and DONTs ................................................ 9

Work Experience Action Plan ............................................................................. 11

Appendices: ........................................................................................................ 12

Appendix 1. Sources of Work Experience .................................................. 12

Appendix 2. Activity - Highlighting Your Skills ............................................. 14

Further Help


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INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this booklet is to help students wishing to apply for work experienceplacements schemes or summer internships.

Ideally this booklet should be used in conjunction with the Career Management SkillsWorkshop How to Get a Placement/Internship, which is run in certain Departments.

It is highly recommended that students reading this booklet and wishing to apply fora structured placement scheme should attend Careers & Employability workshopson CV Writing, Application Forms and Interviewing Skills, as this booklet providesonly an introduction to the application process.

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY PLACEMENTS/INTERNSHIPS?

Although there are many different types of work experience, structured placementsand internships are a particularly popular way of gaining career skills.

They tend to:

Focus on one career area (this varies greatly depending on the placement).

Occur in a set time frame (either 12 months or between 6-12 weeks over thesummer).

Be generally project-based.

Be open to penultimate year students only (there are some exceptions but theseare few and far between).

Occur in organisations of all sizes, generally the bigger the company the morestructured the training plan.

Be paid fairly well (again this can depend on company size and varies dependenton location), a recent survey carried out by the Association of GraduateRecruiters (2011) found the median salary for work experience stood at 350perweek (with more than a quarter of interns reporting a weekly salary in excess of350 per week) 1.

Be very competitive, with lots of students applying for a few roles. It is thereforeessential that your application hits the mark.

Other benefits include:

The structured element means the learning will be much greater than that ofshorter term placements.


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As they tend to be more career related you can find out if this is the right choicefor you.

You can gain an insight into the organisation you wish to work in after graduation.

You will gain and develop soft skills required by employers; these include selfmanagement, teamwork, business and customer awareness, problem solving,communication and application of information technology1.

More than half of recruiters wan that graduates who have had no previous workexperience at all are unlikely to be successful during the selection process andhave little or no chance of receiving a job offer for their organisations graduateprogrammes2

You are able to apply theory into practice.

You could receive sponsorship for your final year.

Work experience provides you with introductions to the right people andpersonal contacts that can be used for further work experience, future jobs andpossible referees for graduate applications.

Applying for placements / internships provides you with the necessary job searchskills required for your final year and after graduation.

Undertaking a placement makes the transition from University to work after

graduation much easier.

What Employers Are Saying:

According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters Summer Review,competition for graduate vacancies has intensified with an average of 73applications per job3.

The message coming through loud and clear ... is research, research and moreresearch know your potential employer and know your sector. The best way todo this is to undertake a placement/internship.

Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive, Association of Graduate Recruiters

Virtually all of the UKs leading graduate employers are offering paid workexperience programmes for students and recent graduates during 2011/12academic year a total of 11,296 places are available 2

1/3 of this years vacancies will go to interns. 2/3 of employers are unlikely toselect a graduate with no work experience. 3/5 of employers provide industrialplacements or vacation work

1

Association of Graduate Recruitment Review Summer 2011

2

High Fliers 2012

3

Association of Graduate Recruiters Summer Survey 2012


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BEFORE YOU APPLY

You should not simply apply for positions with companies/organisations withoutthinking whether the role would be right for you. Much of this is covered in theworkshop Planning Your Employability - download the accompanying booklet at

www.cardiff.ac.uk/careers.

You should try and determine in advance of applying, what role/organisation wouldsuit you, your strengths, your current skill set and would it develop these?

You may want to consider undertaking one or more of the following options to helpyou with this:

Undertake a skills audit (see Planning Your Employability or Are YouEmployable? booklets).

Attend the CMS Workshop Introduction to Career Planning Options in yourDepartment.

Download the Careers Booklet Getting Started with Career Planning.

Use either Prospects Planner or TARGETjobs Careers Report - computerprograms designed to help you explore key aspects of career planning in asystematic way. Prospects Planner has been designed specially for HigherEducation students and graduates, and has hundreds of graduate job titles in itsoccupations database.

The TARGETjobs Careers Report uses questionnaires and psychometric tests toexplore your interests, strengths, personality and matches you to jobs that wouldsuit you http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-report

Prospects Planner will not tell you what to do, nor will it necessarily come up withthat quick solution you may be hoping for. It will, however, help you to identifyyour motivations, interests and skills, and identify a range of occupationalpossibilities.

To use Prospects Planner you will need to access the Prospects websitewww.prospects.ac.uk and register with My Prospects.

Following this do some preliminary research into the occupations identified tocompare and contrast them, use the Careers & Employability Centre to do this.

Use the TARGETconnect website and look at options with your subject.

Use websites such as www.ratemyplacment.co.uk to see what students aresaying about companies you are interested in applying to.


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FINDING VACANCIES

Internships and placement programmes are marketed via a number of means.According to the AGR 2011 Summer Review, 87% use their own careers pages and85.2% use careers fairs to promote on campus. Many advertise through third parties

such as Target Jobs or RateMyPlacement and in some cases you may need to applyspeculatively (explained later) in which case you may need you may need to adopt amore creative approach.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

Whats Involved?

If you are applying for placement schemes or internships with graduate recruiters

then you can expect the application process to be similar to that of applications forgraduate jobs. Apply using an on-line application form, this is usually followed byinterviews and/or assessment centres (some may ask for a CV and covering letterbut this is rare).

If applying for summer placements through schemes such as GO Wales or STEP,then you will need to register your details on-line, they usually require an up-to-dateCV too.

Speculative applications can be a way into the organisations that do not advertisethat they offer work experience. You need to apply with a well written, tailored CV

and covering letter.

The diagram demonstrates the processes or different approaches required for eachtype.

On line application form/aptitudetests apply EARLY, from

October

Graduate Recruiters Structured PlacementYears/ Summer Internships

Telephone Interview / 1s

Interview

Assessment Centres / 2n

Interview

Summer Placements with otherorganised schemes e.g. GO

Wales

Register on-line, apply with awell written, tailored online

application form

Source your own

Research organisations

Find out who isresponsible for

recruitment

Apply with a tailored CVand Covering Letter


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Making the Application

Applying on spec should not involve sending the same letter and CV to numerousorganisations. You should follow a few simple rules:

Research the company, find out what they do.

Identify the key decision maker (a quick call to HR or the office if its a smallbusiness should be enough to find this out).

Personalise the letter, show evidence of your company research.

Do not use the words job or vacancy, instead use the words opening oropportunity and do not mention money until you get to interview!

Be enthusiastic and promote a positive self image.

Ask for a meeting.

Follow up with a phone call if you have not heard anything after a week or two.

Example Letter

Dear NAMED PERSON

I AM (WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU WRITING?) ...e.g. a second yearBusiness Management student at Cardiff, committed to a career in accounting.

YOUR COMPANY IS GREAT (!) e.g. with clients such as xxx the company hasan excellent reputation for the quality of its work. I particularly admire your xxx andwould love to learn xxx.

I AM SUITED TO THIS WORK AND YOUR COMPANY e.g. you will see from myCV, Ihave excellent numeracy skills developed acting as treasurer for the BusinessSociety. I have also gained leadership skills, developed in the volunteering sectorwhere I was responsible for a group of young adults cleaning the local river. I am

looking forward to applying these skills in a commercial context.

EXACTLY IS WHAT I WANT IS e.g. I would value the opportunity to gain workexperience for however brief a period during the summer. I am available during thefollowing weeks ...

I CAN BE CONTACTED AT e.g. should you feel there may be a suitable opening Iwould be happy to discuss these with you, I can be contacted by letter at the addressprovided above, alternatively telephone xxxxxxxxx or e-mail xxxxxxxxx.

Yours sincerely.

Your name


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Advice on how to prepare your CV can be obtained from CV workshops held in theCareers & Employability Centre and in many Departments through CareerManagement Skills Workshops. Further examples of covering letters can be foundin the Careers & Employability booklet CV & Covering Letters, available on-line atwww.cardiff.ac.uk/careers You can also get your CV checked by a Career

Consultant (book on-line for an appointment).

Applications Forms / Interviews / Assessment Centres all these processes aredesigned to extract the right information needed to select or reject you.

In all situations it is essential that you are able to sell yourself and your skills in apositive way. You need to exude enthusiasm and confidence as well asdemonstrating your knowledge of the organisation you are applying to.

Firstly think about your skills in relation to those required by the organisation. FutureFit; a report produced by the Universities UK and the Confederation of British

Industry (CBI) in 2009 define the main skills requires by employers as:

Self Management Communication and Literacy

Teamwork Application of Numeracy

Business and CustomerAwareness

Problem Solving

Application of Information

Technology

There will be questions on how you have developed these skills whilst at University,through extra curricular activities. Examples you can draw on could include yourpast work experience or involvement in extra curricular activities, this may include apart-time job at Tesco or playing football for the university team, everything counts.

When answering questions always follow the STAR approach to highlight your skills.

Situation

Put the example in context when and where did this happen?

Task/TargetWhat was it you were trying to achieve? What did you have to do?

ActionHow did you do it? What did you contribute? How did your contribution make adifference? Be sure to make particular reference to the skills(s) in the question.

Result/ReviewWhat was the outcome? What did you learn from this?


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Using the STAR approach is a useful way of being concise and to the point on anapplication form and prevents waffling in interviews. If used it will really enhanceyour answers and bring out your skills.

The Importance of Commercial Awareness

Many employers state that students lack business awareness. When applying forinternships / placements it is important that you have a broad understanding ofbusiness issues. According to KPMG, types of questions you could face at interviewinclude:

How do you keep your business knowledge up to date?

What story has interested you in the business news lately?

From your experience of working with customers, can you give an example ofhow by delivering quality service, have you increased sales?

You need to demonstrate the ability to understand the dynamics of the workplaceand the factors that can affect it.

Advice on applications forms and interviews can be obtained from the downloadablebooklets available from www.cardiff.ac.uk/careers It is essential you attend theseworkshops if you are making applications/going to interview (run in your departmentand at the Careers & Employability Centre). Remember you can also get your

application forms checked by a Career Consultant.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Think about the work experience wheel covered in the workshop Planning your WorkExperience. What have you done that could help your application? Have you beeninvolved in any extra-curricular activities during your time at University that couldhelp your application?

STUDENT EXPERIENCE CHART

PlacementSchemes

Internships:

Work experience within a large organisation, usuallypaid. These tend to take place over the summer andlast between 6-12 weeks.

Placement schemes:

A period of work experience (paid and unpaid) taken aspart of your course or extra curricular activities. Can bearranged by the university or independently through

placement providers e.g. GO Wales

Sandwich/Industrial Placements


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Assessed work undertaken in your penultimate year aspart of a study programme. Generally paid.

GO Wales GO Wales work with students and graduates to improveemployability and offer work experience. Students can takepart on the following:

GO Wales Placements

Paid work experience lasting 6-10 weeks in a variety ofindustries. Candidates are paid a minimum of 3250 perweek.

GO Wales Tasters

Unpaid work experience in a variety of industries designedto fit around your timetable.

First Steps Unpaid work experience for students (particularly 1st and2nd years) usually for 1 to 4 weeks.

Work Shadowing Observing an employee in their role to learn what it entails.Use personal contacts to source opportunities.

CEP- ClassroomExperience Project

The Classroom Experience Project manages and offersunpaid classroom based work experience opportunities toCardiff University undergraduates and postgraduates whoare looking at a career in teaching.

Entrepreneurialactivities

Not just self employment, the Cardiff University EnterpriseTeam host a number of events where you can developskills and gain real commercial awareness.

Student societies Excellent for gaining valuable transferable skills from your1st year, even better if you can take on positions ofresponsibility.

Vacation work Make full use of vacation work experiences. Customerfacing work is very useful, as is gaining positions orresponsibility.

Year out Working or volunteering for a year before or after studying.

Paid or unpaid (if you choose this option make sure youmake the year out count)

Volunteering A chance for you to contribute to the local community andto gain an understanding of the wider social issues. Thiscan be undertaken in the evenings or at the weekend, inthe UK and abroad.

Project-based work Opportunities within your course to undertake a real-lifeproject that gets you out into different workplaces orcommunities. Often unpaid.

The Cardiff Award The Cardiff Award encourages students to improve theirprofessionalism and employability whilst gainingconfidence and skills to be successful in the world of work.Participants are expected to undertake extra-curricularactivities or work experience and attend a series of


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bespoke employer sessions. Written submissions andpresentations form a part of the process and the end resultis a more confident, skilled individual that can sell theirstrengths to any recruiter.

Study/work abroad These can be exchange programmes organised through

third party organisations, or are obtained independently.Useful for gaining experience of a different culture andlanguage. Paid or unpaid.

Part-time work Casual work undertaken during your studies. Paid.

If you are lacking activities that could add value to your applications think aboutundertaking some short-term work experience. Ideas include:

GO Wales Work Tasters www.gowales.co.uk

Employer skills events run by Careers & Employability (for details visitwww.cardiff.ac.uk/careers

Student Enterprise run a number of events designed to increase yourtransferable skills www.cardiff.ac.uk/racdv/students

Volunteering, e.g. register with Student Volunteering Cardiff www.svcardiff.orgor log onto www.volunteering-wales.net for ideas.

Paid casual work (register with Unistaff) www.cardiffstudents.com/jobs

Take up a leadership role within a student society.

Become a Student Ambassador for a graduate recruiter, many employ studentsto raise the profile of their company across campus, visit the Cardiff UniversityCareers Facebook Group for opportunities.

MAKING THE APPLICATION

To summarise:

Do

Sell yourself be positive about past achievements.

Include examples of part-time casual work.

Research the company you are applying to (the Careers & Employability Centreis a good starting point).

Tailor your application.

Pay close attention to instructions.


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Ensure you have a broad general understanding of business issues.

Attend Careers & Employability workshops on CV writing, application forms andinterviews.

Book an appointment with a Career Consultant if necessary to review or foradvice on CV/application/interviews and guidance of the application process.

Dont

Leave it too late to apply be aware of early deadlines.

Let location put you off applying.

Embellish any facts tell the truth.

Assume its too late to find work experience that could add value to yourapplications.


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To help you with your planning and applications, follow the time scales provid

WORK EXPERIENCE ACTION PLAN

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May

WhatInternship

Decide On:RoleIndustryCompany

ResearchVacancies

Careers / Company sitesFairsCareers & Employability Centre

SubmitApplications

Get in early! Many deadlines for largercompanies fall in Dec. Offers are made asapplications are received

Apply for GO Wales / STEP Scheme, make sapplications

MeetEmployers

Meet the people that are offering internships at Autumn

Fairs, Employer Presentations and Skills workshops

Improve yourSkills

Be pro-active in your approach to work, identify the skills you need todevelop; try and undertake some short term work experience e.gwork shadowing or a GO Wales Taster and record your learningusing a Personal Development Plan

PracticeInterviews

Avoid social blunders, bad jokes and bad ties; learn to sell yourself; attendinterview workshops at the Careers & Employability Centre

Get HelpBook a Work Experience Group Appointment or attend the Work Experience Help Zone, andCareers/CMS workshops on applications forms, CV writing, interview skills and assessmentcentres


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APPENDIX 2 : ACTIVITY - HIGHLIGHTING YOUR SKILLS

Think about your skills, how have you developed these and what experiences couldyou draw on to highlight these?

Discuss in pairs then feedback to group.

Use the space below to make notes:

Notes:

R:\General\literature\How to Get an Internship'Placement booklet by JJ Aug12.doc


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FURTHER HELP

If you have found this booklet useful, you may want to pick up or download our otherbooklets, from:

www.cardiff.ac.uk/careers

Career Central is an extensive online careers resource accessible from ourhomepage www.cardiff.ac.uk/careers by signing in using your Cardiff usernameand password. You will find a wealth of information, activities, video clips andrefection exercises covering all aspects of career exploration, job hunting, workexperience and much more.

Careers & Employability also runs a series of workshops in conjunction with thesebooklets. You can find out more about these on our website.

We offer Career Management Skills (CMS) Workshops in many Departments. Tofind out if your Department hosts these sessions, contact your Department or SchoolOffice.

THIS BOOKLET IS AVAILABLE IN WELSH AND ON CD

on request at the Careers & Employability Centre

Careers & Employabiity aims to offer a fair and equal service to all its clients, regardless of their sex,ethnic origin, age, sexuality, religion or disability. We are able to offer additional support to studentswho may benefit from extra help. Please contact us for further details.

DISCLAIMER

The information and advice provided by Careers & Employability is given in good faith and allreasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy. Neither Cardiff University nor the individualmembers of staff shall be liable to any person in contract, tort, statute or otherwise for any loss,distress or damage of any kind howsoever caused (except for death or personal injury caused by thenegligence of Cardiff University or the individual members of staff). All information and advice isprovided only on the basis of this disclaimer.


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The new Careers & Employability Centre opened in July 2010. It is free for you touse and is open weekdays from 9am - 5pm throughout the year. Whether you arejust beginning to think about your future, have made some plans or simply havent aclue what you want to do there is an array of help available to you so please makeuse of it. Start today by reading this booklet and utilising the events and services onoffer.

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How to Get an InternshipvPlacement Booklet by JJ Aug12

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