DS's summer internship - London or Manchester?

[JustABitOfUncertainty]

Hi. I would love some opinions here.

DS, in 2nd year of his degree, has secured a summer internship with a reputable company in Manchester. He does not go to Uni in Manchester. We live in the SE of England, less than 1 hr commute into London.

He has one other interview lined up for a very good alternative placement in London. However, he needs to either accept or reject the position he's been offered in Manchester. If he doesn't in the hope that this other position in the London company will happen, he risks getting nothing. Even if he makes it through the interview, it would only be the first stage.

So I am just wondering about him moving to a city he's never been to, where he doesn't know a single soul, and where he will need to look for accommodation, and pay for it of course. If he secures an internship in London he would live at home but the cost of commuting into London might just work out similarly!!

Anyway, I'm posting this in the hope of a virtual sounding board! Cheers!

Students move to other cities all the time so that wouldn’t worry me as much as turning down the Manchester offer and potentially not getting the London one would.

It could be good for him, to experience another city. A Northern one. Make new contacts and friends.

He needs to spread his wings independently.

Manchester is the better internship? And London if second best IF he gets it? To me - seems clear - have fun and meet new people in Manchester!

PS to be honest OP he needs to be making these decisions himself! He knows the people, how he felt at interview. He should know how rare such an opportunity is etc.

A bird in the hand and all that.

He's not actually "moving to" the city. Just going to stay there for a few months. People do it every summer.

So the key question is can he afford it?

In what field of work - very broadly - is the internship? There may be circumstances in which a London-based company would be so much better for experience and CV that the risk would be worth it. Law or media, for example. That would also depend on the company of course.

Manchester is a young city, compact and with a different feel to London. He will make very many more contacts.

hopefully he can secure somewhere in spare rooms dot com and with good tram network and bus links he can live within greater Manchester easily and secure a rental

your only worry will be whether he won’t come back down south 🙂

This.

He's an adult so it's his decision.

Would there be consequences if he accepted Manchester then later turn it down?

A perk of being a student is to be able to move about, rent a room (should be plenty trying to rent their room for the summer).

He is an adult so it is his decision. he is an adult so none of what you say about Manchester is relevant. In his shoes I would 100% go manchester.

Don't turn down a summer internship- they are difficult to get and very competitive.
Even if he doesn't enjoy it much, it's only 9 ish weeks.
But the benefits and doors that it will open for him could pay off for life. Getting that first step on the ladder can be really hard and he's done brilliantly well to be offered a placement

Has he got any friends at Manchester. Thinking back my son had an internship in a random place and he lived in uni house of a school friend who had studied there for free over the summer. It was a shared house but never full as the housemates due to inhabit were all at home/ doing other stuff for at least part of the summer. This was a far less uni town than Manchester too - feel like every young person has a mate or two studying at Manchester!

He needs to accept the Manchester one. He will be fine, it’ll be for a few weeks. Even if he doesn’t really have anyone to hang out with after work he will be be fine. But chances are he will meet People at the company who will be going out for drinks after work, etc. if not he either watches Netflix in the evening for a few weeks or does stuff on his own exploring the area/going to a gym, whatever.

Let him make his own mind up op

I would definitely go for the Manchester option

Of course he will 100% make his own mind up and I will fully support whatever decision he makes. That doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate having this discussion with other people, so that when my DS wants to use me as a soundboard, I have some wisdom to offer.

Thank you all for the replies. I do agree that Manchester sounds like a fantastic option, and it will be good for him to experience another part of the country. This would be in the financial field. I feel slightly concerned that it's hybrid work, so 2/3 days in the office, 2/3 days from home, as that would limit his chances of getting to know people at work. However, you're right, it's only short term, and an amazing experience!!

Are you on the facebook group WIWIKAU? (What I wish I knew about university) You'll get lots of helpful responses on there!

He can choose to go in more often I’m sure.

If he goes for the Manchester one, could he get reasonably priced temporary accommodation in Manchester halls or wherever else students live in Manchester but won't be occupying over the summer?

Perhaps worth contacting whichever organisation sorts out student accommodation in Manchester?

I agree that it might be a good way of widening his horizons and improving his chances of getting work later where he won't be tied to London and higher housing costs.

Housing in Manchester is really tough