OXFORD

GAINING EXPERIENCE + DEVELOPING SKILLS
IDEAS ON GAINING EXPERIENCE
C
Work experience can be many things, and is essentially an opportunity to make
good things happen! There’s no ‘one way’ to do work experience, so think carefully
about what you want to get out of the experience.
Work experience can be:
] Enjoyable!
] A way to develop valuable skills and accomplish something
noteworthy.
] A chance to try out possible career directions.
]
] A chance to earn some money.
Work experience provides a valuable opportunity to develop
awareness and understanding of yourself: what really interests
It also has a very important role in enhancing your
employability. In a study of major graduate employers
(HighFliers 2015), recruiters reported that around a third of
Moreover, half the recruiters surveyed warned that graduates
with no work experience were unlikely to be successful in
applying for graduate level jobs in their organisations. This is
because work experience both:
] Enables you to enhance and apply your skills (see pp.30-32
for more on Core Employability Skills).
] Provides evidence of your skills and achievements that
you can highlight in your applications and talk about in
interviews (see pp.40-55 on Application Essentials).
doing without ever having formally applied for it: student
committee roles, volunteering, summer jobs and individual
projects. What you’ve chosen to do already can be a useful
clue as to what other forms of work experience and ultimately,
Developing Your Career Ideas (pp.12-14).
There are plenty of different, equally valid ways to get work
experience …
DO AN INTERNSHIP
These might be advertised opportunities requiring an
application, or arranged with an organisation after contacting
them speculatively. They can take place at any time of year,
but most advertised opportunities take place in vacations,
particularly the summer. Some organisations offer internships
experience and do not expect to hire interns at the end of
the period. Others use internships as a core part of their
recruitment process, particularly major graduate recruiters,
which often advertise summer internships for penultimate year
students in Michaelmas Term.
The Careers Service also runs its own unique schemes
exclusively available to Oxford students:
] The Oxford University Internship Programme
(OUIP),which provides 4-12 week summer work experience
across the globe.
] The Micro-Internship Programme, which provides short,
convenient work placements in Week 9 of each term based
in organisations across Oxfordshire and London.
VOLUNTEER
Volunteering is a great way to develop employability skills and
help others at the same time. As a volunteer you can work on
projects or tasks which still use and develop your skills, but
hours.
while at Oxford:
] OUSU – organises diverse fundraising activities you can
get involved in, including the annual RAG campaign.
OUSU also wants volunteers for Target Schools and other
programmes. See www.ousu.org.
] Oxford Hub – a student-run organisation that acts as
a focal point for charitable activity in Oxford. They coordinate
a variety of volunteering projects in many sectors.
www.oxfordhub.org.
] Do-It – a web-based national database of volunteering
opportunities. Search for projects in Oxford and your home
town at www.do-it.org.uk.
] OCVA – Oxford Community and Voluntary Action is our
local city volunteering hub, with lots of opportunities
available: www.ocva.org.uk.
] UN Volunteers (Online) – international volunteering
opportunities with a development focus, that you can do
on your laptop. See www.onlinevolunteering.org.
] Consider getting in touch directly with local organisations
or causes you care about to discover if there’s something
you could help with, or to suggest a project, both in Oxford
or near your home.
www.careers.ox.ac.uk 35