Part-Time Work and Internship Applications

At this time of the year, job applications are at the forefront of every final year student’s mind. I am not envious of my friends who are going through that process now – perks of doing an integrated masters! Whether you are graduating this year or not, I think it’s still important to get organised with applications, be it for jobs or internships. In this blog, I want to talk about part time work, internships and give you a few application tips from my personal experience.

At Warwick, there are lots of different options to work part-time. I like having the opportunity to have a part-time job (or two!), as it helps to accommodate my dangerous Curiositea habit as well as giving me some really good work experience before I’ve even graduated!

Students can get jobs through Unitemps, a temping agency that has an office on the outskirts of campus, in the Students’ Union food and drink outlets, as well as in departments as ambassadors. Regular readers will know that I work as an ambassador for Warwick Welcome Service which is a job I love! I’ve met some great people through the job and it’s great fun talking to prospective students and their families on open days. Clearly, I am also a student blogger, which is another good job as the hours are really flexible. You can write blogs anytime and anyplace; ideal for fitting around busy student timetables!

I have spoken about both my part-time jobs in my CV and in internship applications, as the skills you gain (communication, organisation, teamwork, keeping to deadlines etc etc) are looked upon highly by employers.

Which leads me nicely onto my next point: internships! As I did an undergraduate research project over the summer, I didn’t apply for any internships this time last year, so internship applications are fairly new to me.

In order to be prepared when applications opened, I did lots of research over the summer. This made me feel really organised, especially when I made a spreadsheet to keep track of all my applications (oh how I love a good spreadsheet)! I am in the midst of applying for various internships now, and have a couple of interviews lined up for the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed they go well!

• Have a solid CV ready to go (book an appointment with Careers and Skills if you need some help!)
• Know how to write a covering letter (again careers and skills are helpful, as are online resources.)
• Don’t worry if you get rejected, it happens to everyone.
• Do your research online, and email the companies if in doubt.
• Try not to compare yourself to others – grad jobs/schemes aren’t for everyone. None of the internships I am applying for are typical “grad jobs” and there are still plenty of options out there.
• Don’t stress about online tests and interviews, they are meant to be challenging and you can only do your best!