Finding an Internship “How would you describe an elephant to someone who had never seen one before?”

Finding an internship Increasingly recognised route to secure job offer before completing degree Larger (financial) employers often offer a variety of placements

Finding an internship Increasingly recognised route to secure job offer before completing degree Larger (financial) employers often offer a variety of placements Short term experience after first year at university Longer (paid) placement after second year

Finding an internship Increasingly recognised route to secure job offer before completing degree Larger (financial) employers often offer a variety of placements Short term experience after first year at university Longer (paid) placement after second year Successful internship can lead to early job offer conditional on good degree (2:1 or 1st expected)

Selection Process Very competitive Start looking at websites and apply early!

Selection Process Very competitive Start looking at websites and apply early! Can be lengthy process Online application Numeracy and situational skills assessments Telephone and/or online interview Day at assessment centre, including team based activities Face to face interview

What are employers looking for? How could you start to prepare already? What experiences will make you stand out from the crowd?

What are employers looking for? How could you start to prepare already? What experiences will make you stand out from the crowd? Are you ready to answer difficult questions? How can you look for opportunities to practice for this?

What are employers looking for? How could you start to prepare already? What experiences will make you stand out from the crowd? Are you ready to answer difficult questions? How can you look for opportunities to practice for this? Non-academic life has more of a focus No right answer – it’s more about being able to answer!

You can expect the more usual Why this career? Why this company?

You can expect the more usual Why this career? Why this company? What’s your career plan?

You can expect the more usual Why this career? Why this company? What’s your career plan? What do you think you’ll be doing when you start?

More often need…… Quality Resilience Building relationships Leadership Task management Problem solving

Give me examples of how you have delivered quality results

Resilience Evidence of - working under pressure - determination - working where the goals or objectives are constantly changing

Building relationships Give an example of - a situation where someone disagreed with you and how you dealt with this - providing emotional or moral support to a team member

Leadership Give an example of - when you taught someone something and delivered constructive feedback - a time you had to make a tough decision

Task management How do you deal with managing a heavy workload or conflicting priorities? Describe a time you have delegated How do you keep motivated in repetitive tasks?

Problem solving Have you had a recent problem where old solutions wouldn’t work? How did you solve it? Describe a time when you have presented complex information in a comprehensible form.

And finally – start getting a business awareness! Companies who could further develop their business. How? Companies that are fast growing – what could they do next? Keep up with business news, reading websites and articles in the Economist etc

A final question “If you could be a cartoon character, who would you be and why?”