Placements and internships
At Sussex, you can gain the skills for the graduate job market by undertaking a placement or internship with companies in the UK or across the globe.
Placements
Placements offer the opportunity for you to gain vital industry experience alongside your academic studies.
How placements work
Undertaking a placement means you work for a company or organisation for a set amount of time (40 - 52 weeks) during your degree. You'll be a paid employee at the company or organisation during your time with them.
All undergraduate students have the option to apply for placements, regardless of whether they're enrolled in a 'with Placement Year' programme. You'll begin your placement after completing Year 2 of your course. This will extend the duration of your degree as needed, so a typical three-year course will become a four-year programme. If you secure a placement, your course title will be updated to reflect the 'with Placement Year' designation.
Applying for placements follows the same process as applying for a job. While it is competitive, our Placements Preparation Programme is designed to support you every step of the way. The programme helps you identify your skills, strengths, and areas of interest, enabling you to build a strong application and to effectively prepare for both the interview process and placement itself.
Preparing for a placement
We personalise our support to help you prepare for a placement.
Our Placements Preparation Programme includes:
- an introduction to placements workshop
- find and apply sessions to help you find job vacancies and develop job applications
- Careers Fairs and employer recruitment events
- a CV 360 service for feedback on your CV
- 1:1 support from our careers consultants.
You'll also get support from a placement tutor throughout your placement experience.
Placement benefits
A placement is a great way to build skills and confidence so you're ready for life after Sussex.
Placements can help you:
- Get ahead of the competition - employers are looking to hire graduates with relevant work experience
- Explore career options - you'll get an idea of the type of job or sector you might want to go into.
- Gain skills and knowledge - learn how to use software and equipment, or work on live projects. You'll also gain skills in team-working, communication and time management.
- Grow your networks - you'll build a network of contacts for the future.
International Relations BA with a Professional Placement Year
Internships
Whilst studying at Sussex, you can decide to undertake an internship. An internship is a short-term work experience opportunity, typically taking place during university holidays.
Types of internships
According to student responses given at our annual re-enrolment, 86% of undergraduates begin their final year at Sussex having already acquired work experience. Our award-winning Sussex Career Lab offers 600 paid work experience opportunities each year to help you explore your options, build key skills and connect with employers.
We offer four types of experience:
- research internships on campus
- internships with business and charities in Brighton
- online internships with organisations outside the UK
- student consultancy, where you gain live consultancy experience with a business or community organisation.
Create your own experience
Join over 800 students who take part in our Entrepreneurship Programme each year.
We offer the support you’ll need to freelance, or to launch your own business, social enterprise or creative project.
We recognise that entrepreneurship is a key skillset valued by the global job market, so we encourage all of our students to engage with our Entrepreneurship Programme.