University of Manchester Careers Blog

Don’t worry if you’ve missed out on an internship – although helpful, an internship isn’t the be-all and end-all. There’s plenty alternatives.

1. Go travelling

Whether it’s Devon for a fortnight or East Asia for a year, travelling is great fun and gives you an opportunity to stand on your own two feet. A lot of organisations are interested in what kind of person you are, more so than your qualifications – are you a cultural fit for their business? With that in mind, travelling can be just as beneficial to a job application as an internship.

Plenty opportunities abroad are paid so you don’t have to be wealthy to go away; many Asian and European countries especially look to pay students to be English teachers. Furthermore, Study China, Study India, and Global Graduates are just a handful of examples of either entirely or somewhat funded opportunities to go abroad with the University.

2. Volunteering

Like I’ve already touched on, employers nowadays want lovely people as well as well-qualified people. Having experience of volunteering will set you apart from others as it shows that you were passionate enough about a certain thing to go ahead and do it for free anyway.

You can pretty much volunteer to do anything – whether it’s in the local community, in the arts, with the elderly, or with charities, there are plenty of opportunities. Lots of small charities look for volunteers in a range of roles: fundraising, marketing, social media, or getting involved in managing projects. Perhaps have a search for some small groups in your community which may require some assistance.

3. Get a ‘normal’ job

Go work in a bar, or a café, or in a museum, or anything! Every job can give you experience that you can use towards a career, and it installs a work ethic that employers will love. The job doesn’t always have to be directly relevant to the career you want, you just need to be able to develop your professional skills, and as an added bonus it will give you a little extra money.