Information for Employers

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We are always looking to build partnerships with businesses for term-time and year-long placements, as well as summer internships. We are always keen to support organisations who wish to build talent pipelines to attract graduates with both the faculty and the wider university.

Our students develop a variety of technical and transferable skills while studying across a wide range of subjects. They are particularly keen to undertake experiential learning opportunities as interns to apply their skills and learning in a real-world environment.

We currently work with a range of employers, including SMEs, large corporations, charities, governmental and non-governmental organisations. Current partners include Deloitte, Lloyds Bank, Ministry of Defence, Nottinghamshire Police, The Prince's Trust Walgreens Boots Alliance, and both Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Councils.

Our placement partnerships are long lasting and mutually beneficial. They also cover areas such as access to academics, joint funding bids, guest lectures and research as well as providing targetted applications to any Graduate Schemes you may run.

Add value to your business

Access a rich and diverse talent pool
Raise your company's profile among potential future employees
Work with students from a wide range of disciplines, including law, business and accounting, economics and statistics, education, sociology, criminology, geography, politics and international relations
All our interns receive pre- and post-placement workshops to ensure they are well prepared
Previous interns have made many valuable and, in some cases, major contributions to host organisations while on placement - read The Ditchley Foundation's Martin Smith’s case study about the value of working with our interns

Email us to express your interest

Natasha Johnson-Richards from Go Digit All discusses the value and impact of student interns for her organisation.

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Read our FAQs

Partner sectors

Placement partners come from fields as diverse as:

Banking and finance
Government departments, including local councils
Third-sector organisations and NGOs
Think-tanks, lobbying, pressure and advocacy groups
Management consultancies
Legal services such as appeals, courts and probation
Local and national politics including supporting MPs of all parties
Overseas organisations
Commercial and local businesses
Local and national media
Further or higher education
EU and United Nations organisations
Market and statistical research

Student skillset examples

Communications, marketing and public relations
Accountancy and business consultancy
Legal practice including conveyancing
Research, research design and market research
Conducting and organising surveys
Statistics and quantitative/qualitative data analysis
Evaluating information and advisory skills
Languages
Public and social policy
Social and global justice
International relations
Presentation and editing skills
Teamwork, time management and self-organisation
Debating and negotiation
Networking and liaison

Placement role examples

Social Impact Researcher
Business Development Officer
Political Research Officer
Marketing and PR Officer
Events and Campaigns Assistant
Strategy and Commissioning Assistant
Partnerships and Networking Assistant
Global Conflict Resolution Intern
Statistical Analyst and Researcher
Defence Against Terrorism Analyst
Funding Bids Writer

See our student stories

Megan Collins (BA Politics and International Relations) taking part in the live BBC 2019 ‘Election Special’ via the Faculty Placements Programme. Megan also took advantage of other Faculty placement opportunities including as a Junior Data Analyst at The Advanced Data Analysis Centre, and as a Marketing Intern with the University External Relations team. Since graduating she has worked for both Deloitte and PwC as an Analyst.

Selina Khan outside No.10 Dowing Street. After completing a number of our university placements, Selina has enjoyed a successful career in marketing and communications in both government and business sector.

At the end of her placement, Amelia Balls was invited to present her research at the Ministry of Defence prestigious DSTL conference.

Read our placement blog

Watch our placement videos

A small selection of our numerous placements and internship partners

Employer testimonials

The student base is one of the most motivated and qualified that I have come across in a long time, a combination which ensures we are provided with dedicated students, eager to learn while simultaneously able to produce high-quality work.

The fact that the students can either come to the office or work remotely also adds a highly useful element of flexibility to the programme – for both of us.

The university's support streamlines the intern selection process; short-listing applicants whose profiles most fit the job, and remaining a reassuring background presence that you can turn to.

Josie Lianna Kaye, Director, TrustWorks Global – France

It has been a pleasure working with you to host Nottingham students.

Billie Bradley and Bethan Khesro delivered their assignments to very high professional standards. The marketing and communication strategy and plan they produced will have a significant impact on the survival and future development of the organisation.

They have provided creative ideas which will help the organisation achieve its objectives.

Nadeem Haider, Placements Supervisor (Community Development), Muslim Community Organisation – Nottingham

The University of Nottingham's placement module is a really valuable opportunity for both students and partner organisations. We have been extremely lucky to have a number of dedicated, hard-working students join us for a term and get involved in one or more of our campaigns, across either the research or communications departments.

In addition to helping us with our work (through undertaking original research or writing blog posts), students have also had real-world impact. In addition to being beneficial to partner organisations, the placement module allows students to gain practical, behind the scenes experience and insight into professional life, and a taster of what it’s like to work for a particular type of organisation, which they can take into account when deciding on their future career path.

Thanks to the work of the placement team at the university, the process is very simple for organisations, with the university itself being in charge of shortlisting and matching applicants to our requirements.

As a relatively small organisation, it is also handy for us that students are able to work remotely for most of their placement, though it is always lovely to host them in our office so that they can experience the day-to-day work of our organisation first-hand. I would highly recommend the placement module to other organisations.

Michela Palese, Research and Policy Manager at the Electoral Reform Society

The organisation of the placement was very efficient, and the support and advice given to placement providers and students in establishing the role was helpful.

I was hugely impressed by my first placement student, Dominic Law. His skill set was an excellent match for the work we needed to complete, which was extremely varied! Most importantly, his attitude to work has been exemplary, and he has thrown himself into whatever tasks we offered, including manual tasks (dismantling a video booth), data gathering and entry (repetitive but essential), complex analysis of survey returns and production of event reports.

My only regret at the end of the placement was that we couldn't retain him for longer.

Dr Alison Gardner, The Rights Lab – Nottingham