Speculative applications

A speculative application is approaching an organisation or research group when no job, research opportunity, placement or internship has been publicly advertised. It allows you to express your interest and explore potential opportunities.

A speculative approach can be more than a simply asking "Do you have a job for me?". You can also use it to build contacts and speak with current employees, allowing you to learn more about an industry and develop a professional network.

Here are starting points for making speculative applications:

• Visit our self-reflection pages to help you identify your skills and values before you start approaching organisations and introducing yourself.
• Consider what sort of roles and organisations are of interest to you and where you could use your skills to their advantage.
• You may need to get creative to find organisations to approach. Many large companies do not accept speculative applications while smaller organisations that do can be harder to find. Visit our What can you do with your degree webpages for help in finding organisations relevant to your subject area as well as further tips for expanding your search.
• Speculative applications are often sent to generic email accounts, such as info@company.com Where possible, try to identify and contact a named person, such as the head of the department you would like to work in or someone at an appropriate level of seniority. LinkedIn can be a useful resource if the organisation's own website does not provide this information.

Speculative applications require patience and resilience. Not everyone will respond to your approach; some may reject you outright, others may not respond at all. Keep an accurate record of your approaches to help you track your progress.

Speculative applications are often made by email. Before you start writing, pause to consider what you can offer, what you like from the organisation and when you are available. Your aim is to capture the reader's interest and open a conversation about how you could potentially work together.

You are unlikely to be a priority for the recipient so make your approach clear, concise, respectful and professional. Brevity is often key to success.

When structuring your email, consider the following:

• Briefly introduce yourself and why you are contacting them and/or the organisation.
• Explain what has attracted you to the organisation and how you found them.
• Describe what you are looking for, such as a project, placement, internship or graduate role, and how you believe you could add value to the organisation.
• Be specific about any timeframes you are working to, such as placement dates required as part of your degree programme. If you are more flexible, indicate your availability.
• If you are an international student, explain your eligibility to work in the UK based on your visa. See the International Student Support team's Working in the UK webpages for further guidance.
• Provide your contact details and invite them to get in touch to discuss potential opportunities and your suitability.
• Thank them for their time.

Aim to keep your introduction concise (typically 100-150 words) and be mindful of the reader’s time. You could attach a copy of your CV to your initial email, or include a Cover Letter with further details about your motivations and suitability. 

Make your approach personal rather than sending the same email to multiple organisations. Show that you have researched the organisation and explain what has attracted you to them. 

Be open about what you are asking for. This might be a specific placement or internship, but you could also ask whether there are opportunities to gain experience, speak with current employees, contribute to a project or discuss potential opportunities in the future. A speculative approach doesn't always have to be “Do you have a job for me?”

Ensure your email has a clear and relevant subject line that explains its purpose. For example, “University internship enquiry – Imperial College London Computing student for summer 2027”

Keep a record of your speculative applications and send a friendly follow up if you’ve not heard within 7-10 days. If you do not receive a response to your follow-up, it is likely that this opportunity has gone cold, and you should focus your efforts elsewhere.

While you may not know exactly what skills a role requires when making a speculative application, you can still tailor your CV to the types of roles you are interested in. Include a brief personal profile at the top of your CV to explain who you are and the type of opportunity you are seeking. For example, “Third year Bioengineering student at Imperial interested in gaining work experience in prosthetic limb design, with a career goal to improve the lives of patients.”

Below are some ideas to help you identify which skills to highlight:

• Consider the industry or research area you are applying to. Are there specific skills that would be useful to highlight
• Look at similar advertisements for opportunities in comparable organisations. What skills do they ask for? Our Reading advertisements webpage can help with this.
• Explore the organisation's website for clues about the skills, values, and behaviours they look for. Look for pages such as ‘our people’ or a ‘work for us’ to help gain insights.
• Use LinkedIn to explore employees at the organisation or in similar industries. Try to identify what skills to they have that you can also evidence.

Finally, save your CV as a PDF using your full name as the file name, for example, “Jennifer Humphrey – CV”. This helps preserve your document formatting and makes your CV easier for the reader to find, store and access.