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Josh, Valeria, and Marianne: 3 ways to intern your own way

Posted on Jobs, internships and work experience

Paid internships are a great way to boost your skills and experience or get a taste for a new sector or role – but how do you fit it around your busy life and study commitments? We helped three OU students -Josh, Valeria, and Marianne- do internships in ways that suited them.

Josh’s two-week internship

It definitely broadened what I was thinking about as a possible career.”

Watch Josh’s video
Joshua Brown, Politics, Philosophy and Economics student

Josh gained new skills and CV-boosting experience in just two weeks with his internship at social research consultancy, Insight For Good. Josh chose to work face-to-face (pre-covid) at Insight For Good’s office, giving him great insight and experience at the beginning of his career. The OU works with Santander Universities to help fund paid internships 2-10 weeks long, either part-time or full-time. Find vacancies using the internships filter on OpportunityHub.

Valeria’s virtual internship

Remote working requires self-discipline and organisation. These are qualities that I learned during my OU studies.”

Watch Valeria’s video
Valeria Geymonat, Computing and IT student

Valeria completed meaningful work during her virtual internship with Inspire Loyalty Ltd, which led to a permanent position in the company. The internship was fitted around her part-time job, OU study, and family commitments. Find out more on our Virtual Internships page.

Marianne’s D-I-Y internship

While looking for work experience, I found ‘Grow Your Own Internship’ on the OU website and Sanctus fitted the bill.”

Read Marianne’s full story
Marianne Gillan, Environmental Sciences student

Mother of three Marianne had no work experience so sourced her one-week, made-to-measure internship with Sanctus Ltd by herself using our Grow Your Own Internship guide. She contacted them on LinkedIn first and then we helped seal the deal. With family in place to take over childcare duties, Marianne gained valuable work experience towards her new career.

…and one more for younger students in Wales

If you’re an OU Wales student, under 25 and studying minimum 60 credits, Go Wales may be just the programme to gain valuable experience. Watch student intern Candace’s story, go to the Go Wales website or email the OU GO Wales team .

Help with internship applications

Once you’ve found the internship for you, Careers and Employability Services can help you make an application that really showcases your skills and qualities to employers. On our website you’ll find key tools and resources like our Career Planning Guide, Abintegro, and our careers matchmaker. We also have regular CV and covering letter live workshops to take part in. They are very popular, so make sure you book early.

OU Careers and Employability Services