Internship during summer breaks at univeristy?

Hi, not sure if this fits this forum exactly, but I thought it was somewhat related.

I have recently firmed Bristol University for a geography degree.

Although this could come across as quite far down the line, given that I have not even received my results yet, could anyone tell me whether obtaining an internship during the summer break (as this is the longest) is possible?

I am aware of how valuable work experience is nowadays, but unfortunately, this course did not offer a placement year. Nonetheless, I am still eager to see if there are any other forms of work experience I can gain while studying.

Thank you and good luck to everyone during the upcoming GCSEs and A-levels!

I am speaking from my experience searching for internships, I am not familiar with careers related to Geography. Do you have an idea of the sort of career you might want to do following your degree? That might help me at least do some research to see if I can give you some more specific advice.
It usually is possible but be aware there are usually much less opportunities for summer placements, they may not be well-advertised (or if they are - be very competitive) and it may not be doing something that is a perfect fit in your field or something that you're very passionate about - you might have to look at opportunities that are adjacent to something you might want to do etc, or do something that you think you could do for a couple months. This is still absolutely worth doing incidentally, having that experience will only bring you closer to the thing you do want to do!
It might require you to be proactive and reach out to places directly to ask them if summer internships are something they offer (or have offered in the past - that is often quite useful to know). It might be worth seeing if your university has some kind of internal job board/internal internship opportunities that would allow you to work for the university - some places have this, others don't. You might also want to look at doing unpaid work experience/shadowing if you struggle to find a dedicated internship role.

Hi there,
As an aside from the great advice above, have you considered (if you couldn't find an internship or decided it wasn't for you) looking for some part-time work during the summer? This wouldn't necessarily be geography-related but it would definitely be helpful to earn some money for uni. How about something in a wildlife centre, a bakery or a supermarket? Often just a couple of days a week can really see you building up savings.
I'd also recommend when you get to uni, asking around your lecturers to see if they have any work experience or volunteering opportunities for you during the summer (if you are local to Bristol). Here at Bath we have something called the Research Apprenticeship Scheme which you can arrange with a lecturer to spend time helping with their research, such as participant recruitment, data analysis and writing. Perhaps Bristol have something similar for you to get involved with for experience?
I hope some of this helps and adds, best of luck this year and beyond!
University of Bath

Hi, not sure if this fits this forum exactly, but I thought it was somewhat related.
I have recently firmed Bristol University for a geography degree.
Although this could come across as quite far down the line, given that I have not even received my results yet, could anyone tell me whether obtaining an internship during the summer break (as this is the longest) is possible?
I am aware of how valuable work experience is nowadays, but unfortunately, this course did not offer a placement year. Nonetheless, I am still eager to see if there are any other forms of work experience I can gain while studying.
Thank you and good luck to everyone during the upcoming GCSEs and A-levels!

Hi, not sure if this fits this forum exactly, but I thought it was somewhat related.
I have recently firmed Bristol University for a geography degree.
Although this could come across as quite far down the line, given that I have not even received my results yet, could anyone tell me whether obtaining an internship during the summer break (as this is the longest) is possible?
I am aware of how valuable work experience is nowadays, but unfortunately, this course did not offer a placement year. Nonetheless, I am still eager to see if there are any other forms of work experience I can gain while studying.
Thank you and good luck to everyone during the upcoming GCSEs and A-levels!

Hey, obtaining a summer internship is definitely possible, my friends and I have done so through formal applications and networking (like cold emails, referrals etc). Most of us did this at the beginning of Year 13 so that we would have a placement ready to go once we complete A-Levels in a couple of weeks.
WEX and placements are incredibly valuable as you've mentioned but many formal applications have closed as this is typically the time firms sort through applications. You can could try volunteering, emailing local places around you (like something geography related) and it could work. As people have mentioned on this thread, it's not the be all and end all to get an internship now, as there's various opportunities at Univeristy albeit they are of course competitive. Perhaps, have a list of firms you want to apply to and create a stellar CV over summer. That would probably be 2 hours of work that will help you massively when you enter Univeristy in September.
Best of luck!

Hello! As a person currently in university I’d say there are definitely some summer internships (usually by the uni or smaller companies) but most internships are for graduates. If you want work experience for a short amount of time, also consider volunteering or freelance work!!