Interns and Student Consultants – our Career Lab programme

Recruit our students with a range of internship programmes.

We are committed to providing real world learning to all students and closing gaps in graduate outcomes for students from underrepresented groups. Working with our employer networks we provide a range of opportunities for students to develop their skills, gain experience, and increase their confidence. These opportunities come under our Career Lab programme and there are several ways organisations can get involved.

Career Lab Summer Internships: Ambitious About Autism

Now open

As an employer, you can access full funding to recruit a Sussex undergraduate or recent graduate with an autism diagnosis to work on a project for your organisation. In partnership with Employ Autism, the University of Sussex offers a fully funded scheme to support internships of 6 or 8 weeks (225 or 300 hours).

We are seeking genuine work experience opportunities, with structured projects and tasks that will offer the intern personal and skills development. Part-time hours over a longer period will also be considered. The benefits of offering an internship to one or more of our autistic students/graduates include:

access to a pool of untapped, diverse talent
increasing morale and retention of your staff
raising productivity levels and improving bottom line
promoting diversity of thought and problem solving
supporting your existing workforce to thrive
reflecting the diversity of your clients and communities.

Employer training is provided by Employ Autism. Hear from employers on the benefits of having an intern.

Read the full Ambitious About Autism terms and conditions [PDF 230KB].

Open to: all size organisations.

Eligible students: current University of Sussex students or recent graduates (from 2022, 2021 or 2020).

Expressions of interest for the summer programme are open.

Apply now

If you have any queries, please contact Andrea Wall, Employer Engagement Manager, at: internships@sussex.ac.uk.

Career Lab Student Consultancy

Launches to organisations in November 2022 and February 20223.

The Student Consultancy Programme is an opportunity for you to solve a live problem your organisation is facing whilst providing meaningful work experience to a small group of students. Students (studying a mix of academic subjects) will work in groups on a project brief set by you for a combined 100 hours.

Student Consultancy runs twice during the academic year:

Spring: February to March 2023 (students work part-time on project brief)
Summer: early June 2023 (students work full-time on project brief).

There is no financial obligation, time commitment is low, and clients benefit from a business-style presentation, delivered by the student team with their recommendations, at the end of the project.

Open to: all size organisations.

Eligible students: all final year undergraduates and taught postgraduate students (all academic subjects).

Expressions of interest open to organisations: 1 November to 22 November 2022 (Spring programme) and 27 February to 23 April 2023 (Summer programme).

Expressions of interest for the 2022 summer programme are now closed.

To learn more about Student Consultancy, download the Student Consultancy Programme information booklet [PDF 206.59KB].

I would recommend the Student Consultancy Programme to other organisations without hesitation. I was provided with invaluable information through the project.” gill pawley
Founder of Inkpots.org

Career Lab Summer Internships

Now closed

As an employer, you can access full funding to recruit a Sussex undergraduate student, full time for six or eight weeks during the summer of 2023. We will be seeking genuine work experience opportunities, with structured projects and tasks that will offer the intern personal and skills development. Part-time hours over a longer period will also be considered. Please read our full terms and conditions [PDF 280KB].

Open to: all size employers.

Eligible students: those in the second year of their undergraduate degree (all academic subjects). Some places allocated for students and recent graduates with an autism diagnosis (see above).

Employer expressions of interest are now closed and will reopen in February 2023.

Internships take place: from June 2023.

As a social enterprise we benefit greatly from the Sussex University Internship scheme. The interns who have worked with us have made a real contribution to our work in helping the environment and changing lives. We are always impressed with the ability of the students who join us.” Elizabeth Green
National Community Wood Recycling Project

I strongly recommend that all employers participate in this opportunity. In addition to supporting a student gain valuable skills and something tangible for their CV, it’s an opportunity for the employer to learn so much more from the intern. It keeps us current, fresh and also provides an outstanding opportunity for learning.” Chris Duncan-Scott
Acceler8 Training

Other opportunities to engage

Sussex alumni are invited to become mentors, or be mentored, in one of our exclusive mentoring programmes.

Career Lab Graduate Mentoring Programme

If you, or colleagues, have graduated from the University of Sussex since 2018, please consider supporting our final year undergraduate students by sharing your experience and expertise. Full mentor training will be provided, and mentoring will take place via the Sussex Connect alumni platform.

This programme runs for 6 months, starting in October each year and ending with a celebration networking event.

To express your interest, please email: careerlab@sussex.ac.uk.

Career Lab Alumni Chat

Sussex alumni from any year can support current students by signing up to our alumni platform, Sussex Connect.

Global Mentoring Programme

For Sussex alumni and students not eligible for the Career Lab: Graduate Mentoring Programme, the Global Mentoring Programme is available for Sussex alumni to mentor, or be mentored by, fellow graduates. To express your interest, please email alumni@sussex.ac.uk.

Business and community focused experiential learning

Our academics welcome the co-creation of real-world project briefs that will benefit your organisation whilst also contributing to students’ academic learning. Several of our courses, including our MBA and MSc in Management, work with organisations on substantial challenges. For example, exploring new overseas markets, or creating a marketing plan for a start-up. We use an experiential learning platform, Riipen, to facilitate our projects. Contact andrea.wall@sussex.ac.uk for more information.

Next steps

Look out for our regular communications and full details on how to get involved. If you don’t receive our communications, please sign up by emailing: careerlab@sussex.ac.uk.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss these opportunities please contact Andrea Wall, Employer Engagement Manager: andrea.wall@sussex.ac.uk.