If you haven’t managed to get something planned for summer maybe you are feeling under pressure. Or maybe you have been applying and not got anything yet and that can feel disheartening. Sometimes students feel they have missed the deadlines for everything by now (not true!). Here are a couple of points to consider:
- Are you accessing all the support and feedback available to you for applications and interviews? If not, check here first: Applications and interviews
2. Are you in second year? Many formal internships are targeted to third/penultimate years so it can be harder for 1st and 2nd years to find advertised internships. However……let’s start with MyCareerHub
On 1st April 2024, there are still advertised opportunities on MyCareerHub. I did a search using “internships” as a search and 188 came up. I know they won’t all be relevant or interesting for everyone but there still opportunities out there. e.g. Scottish Government Digital Directorate has some great opportunities. Scottish Government Digital Directorate internships
If you use “vacation work” as a filter, there are 89 opportunities that come up on MyCareerHub – less formal, more likely to consider applications from year 2 Vacation work
The Space Placements in industry are still being advertised , open to any year Also on MyCareerHub https://sa.catapult.org.uk/spin/
I also did a search on Gradcracker.com filtering by science/physics/summer and there are still 33 opportunities being advertised Gradcracker.com
While some specify penultimate year (Deloitte, Network Rail) , some don’t e.g. Hoare Lee, Arup, Leonardo (internships in Software Eng and Photonics, needs security clearance)
If none of these interest you, you could consider:
- Doing some volunteering over the summer https://www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk/
- Upskilling yourself doing some learning via LinkedIn Learning (free)
- Taking part in Students as Change Agents in June https://www.ed.ac.uk/sliccs/students/about/summer-planning
- Working on an interest project yourself
- Trying one or more of the short taster projects on Forage.com (free) gives you an insight and awareness of different jobs and sectors https://www.theforage.com/
- Creating your own opportunity: create your own
Remember any and all experience counts! More ideas here: Summer planning
UoE Physics Careers Blog 