Information for Students

The employability team in the Faculty of Social Science have sourced over 50 internships exclusively for our students. They are only available for students from certain departments - yours is included! 

We have tailored these internships to your discipline so that the project is meaningful. 

What's involved? 

• 70 hour internship full time during the University Easter vacation 2025 (exact working hours to be agreed with the organisation).

• You’ll receive a £770 financial bursary - paid in a single amount at the start of the Easter vacation, once you have had your intial planning meeting with your organisation

• You’ll complete a project provided by a company with a tangible outcome, like a report of recommendations, a marketing plan, designs, a video or a presentation to name a few.

• We will match you to a project based on your discipline, skills and interests 

• Your internship may be in person, virtual, or a mixture of both (most in-person projects will require you to be in Sheffield during the Easter vacation period. Blended or remote projects could offer more flexibility. Please be honest in your application about your availability for in-person attendance.

• You could work on your internship independently, in a pair or a small team.

• You must be in your second year in the Faculty of Social Sciences to apply.

• Regardless of how much work experience you’ve done in the past, you’re eligible to sign up for WI and lead a bespoke project.

The deadline to apply is Monday 24 February 2025 at 12:00PM GMT

Rather than listing over 50 projects here, we've sent you a link so that you can see the projects identified for your department (most projects require specific skills that link with particular degree disciplines, and we're also ensuring that each department is fairly represented in the number of projects available).  

Many projects are within the Sheffield area with small businesses, charities or social enterprises - organisations who really benefit from the time and skills you can offer. There may be some local commuting  involved and your bursary is intended to cover the cost of this travel.

We're also excited to offer a number of projects with the Civil Service , at the DfE and DWP offices in Sheffield. This is a great opportunity to make a real contribution to policy development and planning. Most projects involve some in-person attendance at the Sheffield offices, and some independent working. If you are interested in Civil Service careers in the future, tick this box on your application form, and we'll shortlist/match based on the best fit with the projects available (we don't normally have the detail at the time you apply). Please choose a second choice project too and then we'll consider your application for other projects. 

Some projects are further afield and can be completed remotely, but on the whole we'd expect at least some of the time to be in-person with the organisation - we think this gives you a much broader experience and helps you to complete a higher quality project

You'll have received an email from Ellen Osborne with a link to a document with all the projects related to your degree discipline. This email will also contain a link to the application form with these options to choose from. Please contact Ellen at e.osborne@sheffield.ac.uk if you need this information resending. 

General Application advice: 

• You'll need to  spend 70 hours of your time on the internship during the Easter vacation period - this equates to 2 weeks full time employment. You'll be able to negotiate exact dates/times of working with your organisation, so you'll be able to work round some home visits/social plans etc - but please don't accept an internship if you can't commit the time. 

• Please read the project summaries and consider which would offer you the best experience. Many of our organisations are small charities or businesses and whilst their names may not be familiar they are all offering great projects

• It may be helpful to draft your statements separately and then paste them into the application form. We will use your statements to match you with suitable placements so please be honest and consider your answers carefully. 

• Many students now use AI tools such as ChatGPT to help write application statements - whilst this can be helpful in developing your writing, it can lead to very bland statements which are unlikely to result in shortlisting. Make sure your application reflects your genuine interests and skills and is written in your authentic style.

• Any questions relating to your personal circumstances are for the purposes of monitoring equality of access, these details will not be shared with other organisations.

Advice on completing the form: 

Work Experience Section - This scheme will prioritise students with little or no work experience, however please include any information you feel will be relevant to help us match you with potential projects

Benefits to you - some examples you could include in this section are below ….

• Build confidence 

• Learn more about the industry you’re interested in

• Expand your network 

• Commercial awareness

• Push yourself outside your comfort zone, away from your academic studies 

• Explore a sector that may not be typically associated with your degree

Skills - Organisations will provide support to enable you to undertake your project, for example training in specific software. However, in order to make an impact and deliver a helpful outcome to your organisation within two weeks, it's important that you identify the skills you can already offer. Please select the three skills you feel best able to apply in the workplace at the moment.

Career ideas - Many second year students are unsure about career plans so don’t worry if you can’t complete this section. Workplace Insights can be a great way to explore options that may not have occurred to you before. Information you provide will not be used for initial shortlisting but if you have particular interests it may be possible to match you with a suitable project.

Please don’t be worried about applying - we really want to make sure that even those who are not confident or haven’t had any work experience take part in this scheme. 

We encourage you to come and talk to us if you are interested but nervous, or if you’d like some help in the written element of the application. Call in to Cornerstone from 10am-3pm Monday-Friday and any of our team will be able to share some project examples and help you apply. 

The deadline to apply is Monday 24 February 2025 at 12:00PM GMT

We have a long-standing partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Education (DfE) and have offered Workplace Insights projects with these Civil Service departments for several years. As part of the Sheffield Policy Campus, a number of Workplace Insights projects have been funded in 2025 for students across the University.  You'll have the opportunity to contribute to real time policy developments, inform implementation processes, and develop policy communications. Projects tend to take one of the following forms: 

• Policy research - exploring an area of current policy development eg employment initiatives to help people with disabilities into work. You may be asked to synthesise UK policy evaluations, or search for similar policies from around the world, or use media searches to summarise public responses to policy proposals - writing up your findings as a short report

• Data Analysis - projects that help with the design of data tools for monitoring implementation, or analysis of large datasets to inform policy development

• Policy evaluation - This can involve direct contact with stakeholders to assess the impact of policy - with support from your host team you may be designing questionnaires or interviews, gathering case studies, or designing evaluation tools

• Policy Communication - for example exploring the most appropriate channels to inform the public or other stakeholders of policy change. Evaluating the impact of previous communications on public understanding

Many students who complete Workplace Insights projects with the Civil Service go on to successfully apply to internships, year long placements and Fast Stream/Direct Entry opportunities on graduation. 

"I learned how to transfer the research skills I'm building through my studies at university to apply them to an actual project supporting ongoing research in the Civil Service. It meant weighing up the most important points to include in my final report, and crafting this report  to such a standard it could theoretically be used within the DWP in the future as a summary of current AI use in government. As someone potentially interested in going into research in the future, I found this a really valuable opportunity."  2024 Intern feedback

How to apply: 

If you are a Social Sciences student you'll see the Civil Service internships as an option on your application form - see your email from Ellen Osborne for the link

If you are a student from any other faculty - you'll receive an email by 7 February with an application form. Please contact Tracy Horton if you need this resending t.horton@sheffield.ac.uk

We'll match students to projects in the weeks following the application deadline. You should receive a reply from us with the outcome of your application by mid-March. 

In order to match you with the right project, we’ll:

• Get to know how you would benefit from an internship and your key skills through your application

• Take account of any interests away from your degree that you may want to pursue as a career 

• If we think you're a good match for a project we'll invite you to an informal chat with our team where you can find out more about the project and organisation you have been matched with and discuss any concerns

• If you are happy with the project offer we'll ask you to complete an agreement form (organisations complete the same form so all parties are aware of their commitments)

If you’re offered an internship, you must:

• Attend a pre-internship training session, the week commencing 17th March, to make sure you’re ready to make the most of your project 

• Make contact with your organisation you are matched with to discuss the project working arrangements (we’ll give you some tips on this)

• Attend a post-internship workshop, the week commencing 28th April, to reflect on your experience 

• Complete a feedback form.

• Update your bank details on MUSE so that we can process your bursary.

• ‘I learnt how to apply skills and knowledge learnt on my course into a real life situation’

• ‘I learnt about what it is like working in a smaller organisation and the differences in working practices. It was really insightful and encouraged me to consider organisations of different sizes and industries’

• ‘I have developed core skills for my career, which allowed me to enhance my employability skills. I have also improved my digital capabilities through the assigned task, giving me the flexibility to be creative and innovative in completing the tasks. It was overall an enriching and valuable experience’

•  ‘Workplace Insights gave me more confidence in myself and my ideas’

• ‘I would recommend everyone to apply for the scheme and test your skills in a working environment’

•  ‘It really boosted my confidence - I now have a better understanding of how an office operates and I feel more comfortable networking with people’

•  ‘They introduced me to the whole office with other teams and invited me to join the weekly design meeting to learn the business model and how it works’

Find out more about what your day-to-day experience could look like with Workplace Insights 

• Find out how a Landscape Architecture student incorporated wanting more plant knowledge into the project

• Watch an Day in the life at Dearadh ZU

• Learn how valuable students found the experience here 

• Case studies from 2024 here

Do I have to work full time on this? 

Your hours, travel, working pattern (whether it is in person, remote, or hybrid), point of contact is to be decided between yourself and the organisation you are matched with. The 70 hours will be spread across the Easter Vacation period- you may complete the internship in two weeks full time or spread it across the third week

What if my organisation is not close to home? 

Travel- your organisation may require you to come into their workspace at some point. The bursary we provide will enable you to use public transport. Let us know if you have any issues you would like to discuss. 

What if my project is not in person? 

If you are completing your internship remotely you are welcome to work where you are most comfortable. We have the Cornerstone, our Employability Hub in The Wave (Whitham Road) available if you would like to work in a space with other students on WI.

What if my organisation does not have a business premises - where should we meet? 

You can also use Cornerstone or campus cafes as a meeting point with your organisation if that is convenient for you both - just check with us in advance that there are no events booked in at Cornerstone. Please consider your personal safety as a priority when setting up meetings.

When will my bursary be paid?

If your bank details are correct on MUSE and you've completed your acceptance form and met your organisation, your bursary will arrive in your bank account on or around 7 April

Who do I contact if I’m off sick or can’t complete the internship for personal reasons?

Please let both your organisation and us know as soon as possible

What if I am concerned about the organisation or the project?

We really encourage you to come and speak to us about any concerns you may have. We can often resolve issues with the organisation if you let us know early on about any concerns. 

Who do I contact if it goes wrong?

Contact Tracy Horton t.horton@sheffield.ac.uk or Ellen Osborne e.osborne@sheffield.ac.uk