Summer internships: not so far away….

It’s grey and a bit cold .. but it’s the time of year deadlines are closing for many summer internship programmes. Most advertised summer internships appear on major jobs boards such as Monster, Indeed and Target. But what if you’re looking for something closer to home, when home is here on the south coast?

Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings are brimming with very small employers who are unlikely to offer established programmes along the lines of corporates like Enterprise-Rent-a-Car or large public sector organisations like the Civil Service. That doesn’t mean they’re not interested in taking on a student over the summer, though. We’ve spoken to quite a few, and they are. But they may not commit to advertising the role until later in the year (unlike larger companies who may close their application window as early as November or December).

One option here is to approach an organisation directly. Small businesses often don’t have the time or resources to invest in recruitment and will often welcome a speculative application. Even if they’re not ready to take anyone on just yet, they’ll be impressed that you took the trouble to contact them and will have your details for when something comes up. Do your research (look organisations up on the local chamber of commerce website). Make sure it’s clear why you would like to work for them in particular and make use of the resources on the Careers Service website.