Advertising internships and placements
Internships/placements which offer highly structured, graduate-level work and provide a useful insight into your business are particularly valuable to students and can be undertaken during vacations.
The University of Edinburgh does not require most of its students to undertake a lengthy placement as part of their course. Exceptions (teaching, community education, social work, languages) tend to be arranged by the individual departments.
Some courses (eg engineering and science) require students to undertake work experience of up to 8 months which includes the summer vacation.
However, to guide you through the process of offering internships to students and to ensure mutual benefits for your business and the student visit the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) guide "Internships that work".
The Career Service adheres to the principles set out in the AGCAS Position Statement on Internships.
Advertising your vacancy
Conditions of advertising
Before submitting your vacancy please read our conditions of advertising
Recruitment agencies should visit the 'Information for recruitment agencies' page.
Best practice in student recruitment (internships and placements)
The processes involved in recruiting a student for a formal internship or placement should not differ from your standard recruitment process. However, you may not be fully familiar with your obligations. In our experience it’s always better to ensure that the student you recruit is fully aware of what is expected of them before starting work. A starting point would be to ensure that you provide the student employee with:
- an offer letter, detailing hours, rate of pay, holiday entitlement
- a written statement of particulars (you are legally obliged to do so within two months of starting work)
- a payslip detailing any deductions
- a fair rate of pay for the job which meets or exceeds the National Minimum Wage. Visit HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website for further information on the National Minimum Wage.
- a P46 (tax form). This form can be downloaded from the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) website.
For further help and guidance on the recruitment process, your legal obligations and good practice once your new employee is in place visit the Business Link website.
This article was published on Apr 11, 2013