Our student talent pool

OU students have a great enthusiasm which is demonstrated through their drive and knowledge of the company, they do stand out. OU students have made more sacrifices in life, holding down a job alongside study. OU students have a real drive to succeed.

Shannon Ellis, Talent Acquisition, Allstate, Belfast

Open University students are highly sought after and valued by employers. The Open University has a diverse and unique student population who can demonstrate an abundance of experience and skills.  OU study is challenging and demanding, and students develop a variety of valuable skills and qualities that are relevant to the workplace.

Hiring an OU student is investing in a pre-graduate, whose commitment to distance learning demonstrates qualities in self-motivation, resilience and time-management skills balancing work.life and study.  

During 2020, The Open University Careers amd Employability Service completed an annual survey with 57 employers who recruit our students and recent graduates which span a wide range of sectors, 100% of employers surveyed would recommend working with the OU.

Hire an Intern

We can support our students to make that step into a fulfilling career by offering internships, to allow them to put their learning into practice and to gain first hand industry experience.

We are keen to offer our students and graduates a broad range of internship opportunities, both work-based and virtual and full-time or part-time.  This means that you can be flexible with your commitments and find an intern to fit your requirements.

The benefits of hiring an intern

The OU have been an integral part of adding value to the company. Taking external knowledge from the intern and applying it to our business, while offering an insight to how our company operates has been of mutual benefit.

Steve Risk, CEO, Inspire Loyalty Ltd, Northern ireland

• Free up your staff to work on other projects or high-level tasks
• Hire an intern to complete a short project
• Inject a new perspective and fresh ideas into your organisation
• Find future employees by raising your profile and invest in OU talent

A number of Open University students have completed internships with SME and charitable organisation across Northern Ireland including:

• Connected Care Solutions
• Core Systems
• Datactics
• Inspire Loyalty
• Ulster Wildlife
• Young at Art
• Young Enterprise NI

The Open University in Northern Ireland has facilitated a number of employability related events including employer site visits and networking events with employers including The Northern Ireland Civil Service, EY, PWC and The Law Society of Northern Ireland.

Job advertisements

We firmly believe in the capability and employability of our students. As such, we have set up a free service for Northern Irish employers to advertise job opportunities to Open University students through our Careers and Employability Service.