how early should i line up work experience/volunteering roles
hello, i'm taking a gap year and going to university in september 2027. im hoping to have a relaxed 2026 summer and throughout the next academic year do some travelling. in the summer of 2027 i would like to do some work experience/volunteering to help me learn what i may want to do in my career. I'll be studying biology at uni and am interested in maybe pursuing a role in a lab. In some of my uni applications I have applied for biology with a work placement. What would you recommend I do and when should I start organising this? Has anyone had experience with work experience for biology courses and if so how did you apply/ find it?
Thanks
Thanks
Reply 1
Original post
by ella123444hello, i'm taking a gap year and going to university in september 2027. im hoping to have a relaxed 2026 summer and throughout the next academic year do some travelling. in the summer of 2027 i would like to do some work experience/volunteering to help me learn what i may want to do in my career. I'll be studying biology at uni and am interested in maybe pursuing a role in a lab. In some of my uni applications I have applied for biology with a work placement. What would you recommend I do and when should I start organising this? Has anyone had experience with work experience for biology courses and if so how did you apply/ find it?
Thanks
Thanks
Hi! What areas of biology are you interested in? I personally did work experience at an NHS research and development facility, a dispensary pharmacy and a pharmaceutical company. I know other people who volunteered for local wildlife programmes etc. It really depends what you’re interested in!
I applied to most of these about 3-6 months beforehand
Reply 2
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Original post
by LittleFire10Hi! What areas of biology are you interested in? I personally did work experience at an NHS research and development facility, a dispensary pharmacy and a pharmaceutical company. I know other people who volunteered for local wildlife programmes etc. It really depends what you’re interested in!
I applied to most of these about 3-6 months beforehand
I applied to most of these about 3-6 months beforehand
thanks for your reply! were you able to get these work experence roles with no work experience?
Reply 3
Original post
by ella123444thanks for your reply! were you able to get these work experence roles with no work experience?
I mean I had done some little stuff like been a young leader for girl guiding, but I don’t think that impacted my application
Reply 4
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Original post
by LittleFire10Hi! What areas of biology are you interested in? I personally did work experience at an NHS research and development facility, a dispensary pharmacy and a pharmaceutical company. I know other people who volunteered for local wildlife programmes etc. It really depends what you’re interested in!
I applied to most of these about 3-6 months beforehand
I applied to most of these about 3-6 months beforehand
My tip is learn to drive!So many Biology jobs have this as a requirement.
Reply 5
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Original post
by ScotneyMy tip is learn to drive!So many Biology jobs have this as a requirement.
yes i have my license, why is this usually a requirement?
Reply 6
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Original post
by ella123444yes i have my license, why is this usually a requirement?
Well son is working in conservation and ecology and 90% seem to want a driving licience.
Original post
by ella123444yes i have my license, why is this usually a requirement?
I'd assume so you can go do fieldwork. I actually have very little clue what a biologist job entails, but I know that at my uni the biology students go on fieldwork trips somewhat frequently.
Reply 8
Original post
by ella123444hello, i'm taking a gap year and going to university in september 2027. im hoping to have a relaxed 2026 summer and throughout the next academic year do some travelling. in the summer of 2027 i would like to do some work experience/volunteering to help me learn what i may want to do in my career. I'll be studying biology at uni and am interested in maybe pursuing a role in a lab. In some of my uni applications I have applied for biology with a work placement. What would you recommend I do and when should I start organising this? Has anyone had experience with work experience for biology courses and if so how did you apply/ find it?
Thanks
Thanks
Hi @ella123444 ,
I would say that the best time to start looking around for these sort of roles is around 6 months before hand. You can just keep an eye on some of the websites such as bright network where some internships or roles may come up and just keep checking to see if there are any you like the sound of! It is worth starting to look earlier rather than later as you don't want to miss any that you would've liked.
I know a couple of my friends did some volunteering work, and one did an internship at a local hospital so this could be a place to look but it depends what you are interested in, I would suggest being open minded as some experience is still better than nothing and have a good CV ready so that if you see a job or opportunity you like the sound of you can just apply straight away!
I hope this helps,
Lucy -SHU student ambassador 🙂
Reply 9
Hi there!
There's some really useful advice on here already regarding work placement experience! I'm in my third year studying ecology and conservation, and honestly I wish I'd done volunteer work sooner! Whilst your work placement will definitely be really helpful, if you can volunteer before that, I would highly recommend it! Even start in your gap year if you can. The more skills you build now, the more you'll be able to achieve on your placement year, as you won't need to be taught certain skills. It will also look great on any CV's or applications, especially post uni.
If you're interested in conservation work, the wildlife trusts, rspb or UK butterfly monitoring scheme are good places to start! These are all things you can do in your gap year, that also involve being out in nature (which is always a bonus IMO!). You could also always see if you have a local university/college that might need a lab tech/someone who could help out around the lab!
Once you arrive at uni though, look into being a student ambassador, viewing labs run by academics, and volunteering in the biology labs at your university. Your uni will hopefully notify you about any volunteering or work opportunities too, I'd recommend going for these if possible! There may be things like open days, science festivals etc that you can get involved with.
Hopefully this helps a bit!
If you have any questions or would like any more advice, please let me know!
Jas
UEA Rep
There's some really useful advice on here already regarding work placement experience! I'm in my third year studying ecology and conservation, and honestly I wish I'd done volunteer work sooner! Whilst your work placement will definitely be really helpful, if you can volunteer before that, I would highly recommend it! Even start in your gap year if you can. The more skills you build now, the more you'll be able to achieve on your placement year, as you won't need to be taught certain skills. It will also look great on any CV's or applications, especially post uni.
If you're interested in conservation work, the wildlife trusts, rspb or UK butterfly monitoring scheme are good places to start! These are all things you can do in your gap year, that also involve being out in nature (which is always a bonus IMO!). You could also always see if you have a local university/college that might need a lab tech/someone who could help out around the lab!
Once you arrive at uni though, look into being a student ambassador, viewing labs run by academics, and volunteering in the biology labs at your university. Your uni will hopefully notify you about any volunteering or work opportunities too, I'd recommend going for these if possible! There may be things like open days, science festivals etc that you can get involved with.
Hopefully this helps a bit!
If you have any questions or would like any more advice, please let me know!
Jas
UEA Rep
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