My dd is second year at university and extremely stressed due to needing an internship

[Slartybartfast]

She says it is vital and she should have organised it by easter.
obviously not happened.
are there are magic solutions?

I'm assuming most stat applying after Christmas, I know my son did. Was successful late June, early July I think and started August. Keep trying, possibly the uni could advise? Good luck.

Has she spoken to the university? We take interns but we advertise through the university?

I am not sure whether she has. I will ask her.

It is good to have a second year internship but she has left it too late. She now needs to focus on getting one for the end of her final year. She should get her CV done and start looking at who runs relevant internships. All applications should be in around October/November. In the meantime she should try to get a few days of relevant work experience that she can put on her CV.

My friends course was a sandwich year (with placement) and they said quite a lot of students didn’t take this option and just carried on. Is the placement compulsory?

thanks for that advice

i am not sure about compulsory. she says it is vital

Ds had email notifications of organisations and employers recruiting interns. His is part of a chosen course module and he needs evidence provided before term starts in order to enrol for it. If he did not have it he would need to choose another module. I doubt all the positions have gone yet so worth checking with uni and any professional organisations, providers or charities associated with her subject area. What is it btw?

her subject is art, and in that I think fashion or jewelry

What field of practice? My daughters in Italy was sorted back last November.

I would suggest it might be too late bit sounds like she hasn’t followed university advice and hasn’t got off her rear end to sort something.
If she wants something she’ll have to work hard at it now. Use your contacts to make introductions, cold email companies but make sure it’s to the right person at sufficiently senior level. She’ll need to do lots.
Use social media but be specific about what she needs. Try LINKEDin to search.
Speak with tutor now rather than on return to university. What happens if she doesn’t complete an internship?
Give more detail here about the area of practice as there is wide readership,
Go knocking on doors!

thanks cherry.

Surely she has been exposed to local contacts through her course? Otherwise she could approach:

Local Dressmakers and agencies( prom, wedding, evening) who may customise and do alterations and repairs, especially if hiring. Bespoke jewellery makers
Museums such as v and a or National Trust who conserve examples of historic costumes and pieces
Theatrical costume suppliers and wardrobe departments
Fabric designers and importers
Buyers at department stores and High Street brands (Topshop or Next for example)

Good ideas LiZs
thanks so much

Make sure she keeps checking Uni emails even though the term is over. Sometimes people drop out or a company decides to take on more. Ds had a really good one appear in his emails after most students had already left for the summer. We were lucky we lived locally and he got an almost immediate interview and started the following week.

Where is she based?

london

Why is it “vital”? Is it a course requiremenr or just that it helps post uni in getting jobs?

What exactly is she looking for and what does she need to be doing?

Is she interested in a particular area of jewelry/fashion. I.e Design, buying, merchandising, styling, ecommerce, PR, journalism. So many avenues.

I work in this world so can advise on companies if I know area of interest.

I thought DS had left it late, he didn’t apply until after Easter but got a great one and started in June.

I think I’d just do nothing else but look on the websites, some students must drop out before they start a position I’d have thought, and there might still be a few no one has taken up.

design i assume ratbaggy - will ask her to be more specific

Most internships have been filled now.
It's unlikely to be 'vital' in most industries (law is the exception, I'll admit I don't know much about jewellery/fashion. Is that what she wants to do as a career?)

She should try speculative application, essentially cold calling places and asking if she can come in for work experience. Google the best way to do this. If they won't offer an internship, she can also ask to spend a day or a week work shadowing to get a sense of what the industry involves.

Might be possible to volunteer somewhere? E.g. local museum, they'll probably give her grunt work like covering the front desk or helping out with kids activities over the summer but once she's there she could ask to spend some time with whoever manages costumes and fabrics, for example. Or if she wants to go into marketing, ask to spend a day with that team. Obviously she'll need to show herself willing to help them out and be useful in what they need as well! If she has a summer job, again ask if she can spend time with someone more senior whose role interests her on one of her days off.

What does she think an internship will give her?

If it's networking contacts, can she get those another way? Going to events, contacting alumni on LinkedIn to ask for advice etc. She had all of next year to build those up.

If it's too show her interest in a particular industry, is there a society she can join? Start tweeting about it. Read news articles, listen to podcasts, maybe even make her own or write a blog post/contribute an article to student newspaper on her chosen topic of interest... Something she can talk about at interview

If it's work experience she wants, recruiters also value entry level jobs,(bar work, retail, office temp, cleaning etc) if she can sell it the right way on her CV. Get her to talk to her careers service either now or in new term (they'll probably be quiet now and most do phone appointments if she can't get there in person). Leverage the experience she had as above to try and get insight into a more "graduate role"

Sounds like a last minute panic! But it's really not the end of the world. Good luck

thank you

she says it is vital as it will help to get a job after uni.
last minute panic i agree

Just to be aware going forward into next year, most graduate schemes have a similar application timeline, i.e. she'll need to have applied to big ones by November and some medium/smaller ones by Christmas/Easter (varies a bit of course!)

But she doesn't have to do a grad scheme either, plenty of interesting work comes up after that

good to know