From Campus to Career
Most internships teach a student very little, and it is usually avoidable
Students take whatever internship they can get, do what they are told for six weeks, and leave with a certificate nobody reads. This session covers finding one worth doing, what companies actually expect, and how to leave with evidence — or an offer.
An internship is the only industry evidence most students will have.
It is also the least deliberate thing in a final year. Students apply late, accept whatever appears, treat it as an attendance requirement, and finish with a certificate that says nothing about what they did.
Done properly the same weeks produce a project they can explain, a reference who will speak for them, and often a conversation about a full-time role. The difference is almost entirely in the preparation and the behaviour, not the company.
Finding one, and making it count
45 topics across 8 areas. Eight things that decide whether it was worth it.
Finding One Without a Placement CellMost internships are not advertised.7
Small and mid-size companies take interns constantly and rarely post about it. A specific, researched approach to the person who would supervise you outperforms a hundred portal applications.
- Company career pages
- Direct outreach to small firms
- Faculty and department contacts
- Seniors who interned there
- Startups and local businesses
- Professional communities
- Family and personal networks
You do not need a famous company. You need real work and somebody willing to explain it.
What Makes One Worth DoingNot the logo.6
- Will I do real work or observe?
- Who will I actually report to?
- Will somebody review what I produce?
- Is there a defined project?
- Will I be able to describe it afterwards?
- Paid, unpaid, or a stipend — and does it matter here?
Applying ProperlyThe application is short; most are worse than they need to be.5
- A specific reason for this company
- What you can already do
- One relevant piece of evidence
- What you want to learn
- Availability, stated clearly
What Companies Expect From an InternLower than students fear, and different from what they assume.7
Nobody expects an intern to be productive in week one. They expect somebody who turns up, asks well, and can be trusted with something small.
- Punctuality and reliability
- Asking questions after trying
- Doing small tasks properly
- Taking feedback
- Communicating progress
- Not disappearing when stuck
- Finishing what was started
The First WeekSet it up so the rest is useful.5
- Ask what a successful internship looks like to them
- Agree what you will produce
- Find out who to ask when stuck
- Understand what the team actually does
- Ask to see the wider process, not only your task
Turning Weeks Into EvidenceThe part nobody plans for.6
Keep a record while it is happening. Almost nobody does, and reconstructing it two months later produces a vague paragraph instead of a defensible project.
- What problem you worked on
- What you personally produced
- What tools and systems you used
- What you learned about how the company works
- Any number you can honestly attach
- What you would do differently
Getting a Reference, or an OfferAsk before you leave, not after.5
The last week is when to ask — while they still remember your work and before you become somebody who left.
- Ask for feedback, honestly given
- Ask whether they would be a reference
- Ask what would make you employable here
- Ask about full-time openings
- Stay in touch afterwards, usefully
When It Was a Bad InternshipWhich happens, and is still usable.4
Making tea for six weeks is not evidence. It is still an experience of a workplace, and it can be described honestly without pretending.
- What you observed about how the company ran
- What you learned about what you do not want
- What you did with the spare time
- How to describe it without inflating it
Never invent an internship project. It collapses in the first follow-up question.
Questions students get to ask
- What do you actually give an intern to do?
- What makes an intern memorable?
- What makes you offer somebody a full-time role?
- What do interns do that annoys you?
- Does the college or the company name matter?
- How early should I apply?
- Is an unpaid internship ever worth it?
What a good internship leaves you with
- A project you can explain in detail
- A reference who will speak for you
- A written record of what you did
- An understanding of how a workplace runs
- A clearer view of the role you want
- Sometimes, an offer
How the session runs
Somebody who supervises interns explains what they actually give them, what makes one memorable, and what leads to a full-time offer. Students then write a real outreach message to a specific company and get it reviewed, and work out what they would need to record to turn the weeks into something they can describe.
What your students leave with
- A way of finding internships that are never advertised
- A test for whether one is worth doing
- A realistic picture of what companies expect from an intern
- A first week that sets up the rest
- A record that becomes a defensible project afterwards
- The confidence to ask for feedback, a reference or a role
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
An internship is the only industry evidence most students will have. It is worth doing deliberately.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.