Student Hubs’ Social Impact Internship Scheme places students in socially impactful organisations to carry out an internship for 6-8 weeks over the summer. Here are just some of the reasons you should partner with us:
1. Tick something off your one-day-maybe list
We all have ideas we would love to develop and implement in our organisations, but they rarely make it onto the to do list. This is the ideal opportunity to look over your ideas list, kickstart something new or get a fresh set of eyes on a current piece of work. One of our recommendations for creating a meaningful internship is that projects can be completed in the time the intern is at the organisation. This allows students a degree of ownership and gives you a clear outcome.
2. Headspace
Alternatively, you may have something you would love to spend a little extra time on, but you never seem to get round to it. Handing over something you currently work on for a few weeks over the summer would allow you the extra headspace to get stuck into that funding bid or business plan.
3. No advertising or recruitment hassle
Student Hubs does all the advertising and recruitment, which includes an application process and interviews. We also carry out a matching process between the student interns and the host organisations, aiming to secure each host the best possible match. You will still get to see the CVs of our proposed students and chat to them before agreeing to host.
In 2016, 87% of our host organisations said they gained greater access to intern talent and would now be more likely to employ a recent graduate.
4. Great student interns
We received over 300 applications this year and we are looking forward to meeting socially committed students at interviews over the next month. When the cohort of student interns is selected, we provide training to prepare students for their internship. We provide support for the students throughout their placement too. Each year, we receive fantastic feedback about our students from host organisations.
“Having interns enables us to get a serious amount of work done. In addition, the Hub interns are generally very enthusiastic, intelligent and reliable as well as passionate.” – Cambridge Sustainable Food, 2016 Host Organisation
5. Cultivate and inspire talent in the sector
It is not easy to find entry points to working in the social impact sector. We want to provide students with valuable insight and experience that encourages them to pursue a career in the sector. Charities are hugely under-represented at university careers fairs and many students simply do not consider it as a viable, challenging or interesting career option. This is a huge issue at a time when the sector needs to be attracting more new talent to work on tackling social and environmental issues.
Last year, 87% of our interns agreed they gained a useful insight into the social impact sector through the Scheme.
The Scheme is also a great way to develop internal talent and inspire your existing staff. Having an intern allows you to give line management experience to junior team members or improve your own people management skills.
6. Support from Student Hubs
Student Hubs is on hand to support both host organisations and students throughout the internship. We provide a Host Toolkit to help you set project goals with the intern at the start of the placement. We also check in with students and host organisations whilst the placement is underway to hear how everything is going and help out with any trouble-shooting.
The Social Impact Internship Scheme is now in its tenth year. We have continually improved the process and experience to ensure satisfaction and social impact. In response to host feedback in 2016, we have extended the minimum length of internships from four weeks to six weeks, allowing you to develop longer-term projects and relationships with your interns.
7. Register now, apply later
You can register your interest now and complete your application with project details any time until April 7th. Visit the SIIS webpage to find out more, register and apply.
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