Like! What is a summer internship?
A summer internship is an opportunity to work in an organisation as a member of the team for a certain period of time in the holidays so as to gain valuable work experience in an industry of your choice!
Am I eligible to apply for an internship?
Summer internships are usually for penultimate year students (students in their second last year of university) and graduates. However each organisation has it’s own criteria, so it’s best to get in touch with them to enquire if you are eligible (incase the information on the website is not clear)
How long does it last?
Summer internships usually last for about 4-10 weeks. Some could be slightly shorter or longer.
Do you get paid?
That depends on the organisation you’re interning with. Some internships are paid, while others are not.
How do you benefit from an internship programme?
- Gain valuable work experience in your field of interest. Helps you decide whether the career you are intending to pursue is really for you or not.
- An opportunity to experience what the working life is all about. Everything from breakfast meetings to late evenings, projects and team work to office politics.
- Opportunity to learn the functions of the various departments of an organisation and understand how they work in synergy. It is likely that as an intern you will be shuffled around in the organisation and this would give you an overview of what the various departments do and how they coordinate with each other.
- Opportunity to pick up many transferable skills: working under pressure, meeting deadlines, punctuality, team-work, time-management skills, leadership skills and many others.
- Also a great opportunity to earn towards repaying your student loan. Also an opportunity to understand the responsibilities that come with earning (saving, for example!)
- The application procedure – form, interview, assessment centre, test- that is associated with an internship is similar to the one for graduate positions, and will therefore prepare you for the future (once you graduate and are ready to take on permanent employment!)
- Opportunity to network and make contacts
What happens once your internship is over?
Students usually return to university to complete their course. Once they graduate they apply for graduate positions in the industry (if they’ve enjoyed their internship, often they apply for a grad position in the same organisation). Some organisations infact look specifically for interns who are looking to be part of the team in the long run.
Are there any other internships you can apply for apart from summer internships?
Some organisations run internship programmes in the winter and easter holidays as well. Some organisations (like the BBC for example) run unpaid placement programmes almost throughout the year for short durations of 1-4 weeks.
Which companies offer summer internships?
Here is a list of some organisations that offer summer internships:
Accenture
Ashurst
AstraZeneca
Baker & McKenzie
Balfour Beatty
Bank of England
Barclays Capital
BT
Citigroup Inc
Credit Suisse First Boston
Daimler Chrysler
Delloite
Deutche Bank
Ernst & Young
Gifford
Goldman Sachs
Glaxo Smithkline
Hammonds
Hewitt Associates
HP
HSBC
ICI
John Lewis
JP Morgan
Merill Lynch
Morgan Stanley
Philips
Procter & Gamble
PWC
RBS
Rolls Royce
Rothschild
Thomson Reuters
Shell
Unilever
