Make work experience work for you

Make work experience

work for you

Work experience allows you to gain an insight into a career and demonstrate to future employers how you have put your degree theory into practice. Having experience can help you make an informed decision about your career direction by either affirming, or disproving, your interest in a certain area.

Recruiters want evidence that you have a selection of the skills required for their graduate roles. These can be transferable skills, such as teamwork or communication, or technical skills required for a specific role, such as programming in Python or Java. However, it is worth noting that employers recognise the difficulties many students may have had in obtaining relevant experience due to COVID-19 and will take this into account during the recruitment process.

What can I do?

Work experience can include activities such as:

• Work Shadowing or Spring Insight Schemes • Internships • Industrial placements (if your course gives this option) • Volunteering • Part-time or summer jobs • Competitions and awards • Remote or online learning opportunities

Research a job profile or sector to understand the essential skills required and use this knowledge to develop these skills using online courses such as LinkedIn Learning and massive open online courses (MOOCs). This extra-curricular online learning can showcase your motivation and proactive attitude to continued professional development. Job boards and online vacancy sources You can access job vacancies via the jobs board on JobsLive, by industry sector, location, and job role. Many opportunities from employers are specifically targeting Imperial students and graduates.

Other useful places to look include:

Gradcracker Bright Network Student Ladder Prospects TARGETjobs

There are also some department specific resources on our website to help you get started with your research.

The hidden job market

Don’t overlook the importance of speculatively approaching organisations of interest and the value of networking. A personal approach can help you to uncover opportunities for work experience that never get advertised.