Internships and Placement Options
As an economics student at Nottingham, you have numerous opportunities to gain experience through work placements and internships which will enhance your degree and give you an advantage in the graduate job market.
Many of our students take up summer internships at the end of the second year and 'spring weeks' or insight days in their first year. You also may have the opportunity to take an optional placement year.
Insight days and spring weeks
Insight days and spring weeks can be a great opportunity to find out about the world of work.
Typically for first-years who are beginning to think about their career prospects, students may be given the opportunity to spend up to five days at a company's offices to find out about how the industry operates, take part in group tasks and business games.
These are a great way to make yourself known to recruiters and build a network of contacts, and firms often use spring weeks to hire for summer internships the following year.
Summer internships
In addition to insight weeks, many of our students undertake summer internships between their second and final year.
Many companies offer paid summer internships lasting between six and 12 weeks which enable you to gain valuable work experience and get a head start on your career path, all within the three years of your degree.
Our students have recently completed spring weeks and internships with a variety of top firms. Read about some recent internship success stories.
Faculty of Social Sciences placement scheme
Students from the School of Economics also have access to the Faculty of Social Sciences placements scheme, which organises non-accredited local, national and international placements for undergraduates and postgraduates.
I took on a placement at the Aspley Partnership, a local charity that works to provide for the needs of the Aspley ward through the provision of leisure services and educational opportunities.
My task was to look into the current means of communication and find ways of improving them. This took the form of writing up surveys, working on social media page usage and content, liaising with other local organisations, publicising the work of the charity and redesigning certain aspects of the charity’s brand such as their logo and creating an events timetable.
The trustees provided me with work timelines which detailed the tasks that should be completed at different dates which helped me manage my workload and prioritise certain tasks.
As a result of the placement, we have set up a university volunteering society (AP Society) which will work to raise educational aspirations and provide leisure trips to the Aspley youth.
Daniel Hotchkiss, BA Economics with French
Faculty of Social Sciences placement scheme
Optional placement year
The University of Nottingham offers an optional placement year for students whose course does not have a compulsory placement or study abroad element.
Placement years are offered by many companies to give you in depth exposure to an organisation and its opportunities. A successful placement year will often result in a graduate job offer as organisations seek to identify talent.
This placement (a minimum of nine months) would take place at the end of the penultimate year of study and successful completion of the placement (and final year of study) will result in 'with a Placement Year' being added to the end of your degree title. The placement can be aligned to your degree discipline or in an unrelated field that is of career interest.
Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university's control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.
Careers help and support
All students seeking work experience and graduate roles can benefit from the support of the university's Careers and Employability Service, who offer one-to-one careers guidance, advice and information, as well as application and interview support.
Group sessions cover mock assessment centres and psychometric tests along with pre and post-placement workshops.
They run job fairs and employer presentations throughout the year and many large city firms will come to events in Nottingham each year to recruit our students for their internship and placement schemes.
The Nottingham Economics and Finance Society also run a series of events aimed at supporting students through the internship process.