{"id":8550,"date":"2025-12-11T16:18:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=8550"},"modified":"2025-12-11T16:18:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:18:19","slug":"shape-your-career-and-the-ou-with-an-ou-virtual-internship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=8550","title":{"rendered":"Shape your career and the OU – with an OU Virtual Internship"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>ntern<\/span>\u00a0student<\/span>\u00a0Alice shares how<\/span><\/span> \"Photo<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Finding meaningful work experience to support your career development\u00a0can be\u00a0an important step\u00a0in your career journey.\u00a0If\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0a current or recent OU student\u00a0(who graduated up to 3 years ago)\u00a0looking for\u00a0work experience\u00a0opportunities, then\u00a0The Open University (OU)\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Virtual Internship\u00a0Scheme<\/span><\/b><\/a>\u00a0could be for you.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You may be wondering what\u00a0you\u2019ll\u00a0gain.\u00a0Benefits of virtual internships can include increasing confidence, providing flexibility, finding a sense of belonging<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and developing career aspirations. (Reid et\u00a0al, 2023)\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Explore some of the benefits through the experience of OU intern student Alice\u00a0who\u00a0worked\u00a0as\u00a0a Research Assistant\u00a0for\u00a0The OU\u00a0Business School.\u00a0She\u00a0helped shape the future of work-based learning\u00a0and apprenticeships\u00a0at the OU.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Contribute to research\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An OU virtual internship\u00a0provides\u00a0the opportunity to contribute to\u00a0invaluable\u00a0research.\u00a0Alice undertook key research activities on work-based learning and provided\u00a0much valued personal experience and fresh insights to the project.\u00a0She\u00a0shares, \u201cThe most significant benefit was learning how to collaborate on,\u00a0and contribute to,\u00a0research in a meaningful way.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Collaborate with\u00a0academics and\u00a0other professionals\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of your\u00a0internship\u00a0role\u00a0may involve\u00a0collaborating\u00a0with academics and\u00a0experts.\u00a0Alice\u00a0\u201ccarried out desk research for a publication alongside senior academic and professional staff.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Increase your confidence in a work environment<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

OU virtual internships can be\u00a0a great way\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>build your confidence<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0working within a large organisation and their practices,\u00a0and in other ways too. Alice\u00a0says\u00a0of her internship, \u201cI gained confidence in exploring research questions and pursuing ideas.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Develop your transferable\u00a0skills\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An OU virtual internship\u00a0provides\u00a0the opportunity to gain invaluable knowledge and skills to help you move forward in your career.\u00a0Along with\u00a0her\u00a0research\u00a0abilities, Alice developed her\u00a0writing and\u00a0presentation skills. She\u00a0explains,\u00a0\u201cI conducted interviews with former apprentices, collaborated with my predecessor, joined reading groups, workshops and seminars\u00a0(and)\u00a0presented at meetings.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Share your student experience\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Within your internship, you can use the knowledge and experience\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0gained\u00a0as\u00a0a student to contribute to the learning journey of others. Alice\u2019s\u00a0student voice\u00a0was\u00a0fundamental to the OU\u2019s\u00a0work.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe valued the opportunity to learn from the intern\u2019s experience as an OU student and found mentoring someone at an earlier career stage deeply rewarding.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Academics Sarah Bloomfield and Fran Myers,\u00a0The OU Business School<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Enjoy flexible working\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A virtual internship allows you\u00a0the flexibility to\u00a0work\u00a0from home\u00a0and\u00a0fit with your other commitments.\u00a0Despite working remotely, you\u00a0become\u00a0a valued member of staff and\u00a0part of\u00a0the\u00a0team. As\u00a0Alice proclaims, \u201cThis absolutely felt like an authentic work experience!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0interested in becoming an OU\u00a0Virtual Intern\u00a0or\u00a0have any questions\u00a0about the scheme,\u00a0get in touch with\u00a0the\u00a0OU\u2019s\u00a0Internships team at\u00a0<\/span>internships-students@open.ac.uk<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and re<\/span>ad\u00a0<\/span>Alice\u2019s own\u00a0blog article<\/span><\/a>\u00a0about her\u00a0university-based virtual internship experience.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

References<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reid, K., Butler, D., Comfort, C., and Potter, A., (2023).\u202f<\/span>Virtual internships in open and distance learning contexts: Improving access, participation, and success for underrepresented students<\/span><\/a>,\u202f<\/span>Distance Education<\/span><\/i>, VOL. 44, NO. 2, 267\u2013283<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>Annabel Bennett is a Development Coordinator in the OU\u2019s Careers and Employability Services. She supports careers-related activity both within the service and across the University, helping students to achieve their ambitions and fulfil their potential. Explore the rest of our blog for more articles from your careers team.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Intern\u00a0student\u00a0Alice shares how Finding meaningful work experience to support your career development\u00a0can be\u00a0an important step\u00a0in your career journey.\u00a0If\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0a current or recent OU student\u00a0(who graduated up to 3 years ago)\u00a0looking for\u00a0work experience\u00a0opportunities, then\u00a0The Open University (OU)\u2019s\u00a0Virtual Internship\u00a0Scheme\u00a0could be for you.\u00a0 You may be wondering what\u00a0you\u2019ll\u00a0gain.\u00a0Benefits of virtual internships can include increasing confidence, providing flexibility, finding a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,56,61,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-planning","category-graduate","category-jobs","category-volunteering-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8550"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8564,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8550\/revisions\/8564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}