New graduate internships at Imperial College London: applications now open

Imperial offers new programme available to UK graduates as part of national drive to stimulate the economy - News

Wednesday 27 May 2009
By Naomi Weston

Recent graduates stand to gain work experience and develop new skills on a new internship programme launched at Imperial College London this week.

The College’s new Graduate Internship Programme aims to assist recent graduates in the challenging economic climate, offering them experience of working for a university and enhancing their future employability.

Recruitment is now open for 16 internships, each lasting six months. The first cohort will begin in August 2009. For details of how to apply, visit the Imperial College London Employment Opportunities website.

Graeme Rae, Graduate Internship Programme Manager, will act as mentor to the interns. He says: “These internships offer a fantastic opportunity for graduates to pick up some vital work experience and get a leg up to the workforce. It’s a great chance to learn about the management of a complex and varied organisation and to benefit from the College’s extensive staff development programmes.”

Interns on the Programme will undertake a paid six month placement within a College department. Through reporting to a senior manager and getting involved in the day to day running of the College, they will gain hands-on experience of university management and develop core skills.

Throughout the internship, eight days of dedicated training and development will be available through the College’s comprehensive staff development package, teaching skills such as IT, report writing, career planning and project management.

The internships are being introduced thanks to £168k from the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF), which was set up to enable the Higher Education sector to respond rapidly to the needs of groups particularly affected by the current economic downturn by offering opportunities for skills development. 

As a result of the economic downturn, UK graduates face an increasingly competitive jobs market. A report published this week by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found a significant reduction in graduate recruitment, with a third of firms saying they had cut their employment rate of new graduates in 2009.

Imperial's Graduate Internship Programme is aimed at new or recent graduates looking to expand their core work experience, with an interest in developing a focused knowledge of the workings of the public sector.