Placements and internships

Work placements and internships — what is the difference?

An internship is when you provide paid employment for an undergraduate or graduate for a few weeks or months.
A work placement or 'year in industry' is where a student comes to work in your organisation for 9-12 months and is paid. This usually happens between their second and third years of study.

The benefits of internships

Recruiting an intern can be a cost-effective way to resource your smaller-scale projects, events, research or market testing.

You should try to give the intern tasks and responsibilities normally associated with a professional level position, so that they can enhance their employability and skills.

If you are looking for a student, May to September is the best time to employ them because at this time of year they have no lectures. During term-time, students can only work for up to 16 hours each week in order to protect their study time. However, if you recruit a graduate intern, they will of course be available to work at any time of year.

Read our employer and student/graduate stories

“The support we received for our internship was excellent and we found it a struggle to choose just one candidate. The entire process was hassle-free, and we would highly recommend it to other businesses"

— Representative from Flint Bishop Solicitors

The benefits of work placements

Many of our courses include a work placement of 9—12 months. This is an integrated component of a student's degree programme that counts towards their final degree award. They are expected to make a positive contribution to the work of your company or organisation. It is very different to a short period of unpaid work experience.

Placements can be hugely rewarding for both parties. Your business is able to develop a long-term relationship with a motivated and high-quality individual who is able to bring smart thinking and creativity to your business. Many employers use these placements as a long interview process and often they go on to recruit the student afterwards.

For the student, they gain valuable work experience, enhance their employability, make connections and could even get a job out of it.

Helping you recruit

Our Employer Engagement team can provide practical help with recruiting your intern or placement student, such as:

writing job descriptions and adverts
promoting your vacancies to students and graduates
shortlisting and interview preparation
hosting interviews and assessment centres on campus
booking you a place at one of our careers fairs.

You can submit details of your vacancies yourself using our vacancy portal (you will need to register the first time).

Or you can contact our Employer and Community Engagement team to discuss your requirements.

Employer stories

Hear how employers have benefitted from student and graduate talent.

Just-Ice Directors, Sally and Gavin Murray

Graduate skills for Just-Ice

Ethical ice cream company, Just-Ice, took on a funded graduate intern to help them develop a delivery strategy to support their new e-commerce app.

Interns for Customer Plus

Watch an interview with Richard Beevers from Customer Plus about how Derby interns have benefitted his company.

Citizens Advice recruit Derby interns

Citizens Advice Mid Mercia has recently recruited two new Derby interns to help with its digital marketing, thanks to support and funding from the Productivity through Innovation programme.

Accounting intern for Derby Museums

Derby Museums recently hosted one of our Accounting students for an internship. Find out about their experience of employing student talent.

Head and shoulders shot of Rebecca Erskine

Interns work remotely for Yellow Bird Marketing

Rebecca from Yellow Bird Marketing and Communications talks about her experience of employing a student and graduate, who worked remotely because of the pandemic.

Student and graduate stories

Hear the other side — read how some of our students and graduates have benefitted from internships.

Internship helped build my portfolio - and my confidence

An internship through the University's DRIVEN programme took student Kayleigh Ayriss to the heart of Westminster.

Close up of Thomas Berrington, Marketing and Media student

Why my internship was a real eye-opener

Thomas Berrington's internship at marketing agency Crocstar added practical knowledge to his academic theory. But, first, it shocked him.

Head and shoulders shot of graduate Maciej Rus

Maciej's remote working graduate internship

Graduate Maciej talks about his remote working internship during the pandemic.

Service Promise

We promise to listen to your requirements, offering you advice and guidance and a streamlined process to access the University of Derby’s excellent talent. You will receive a personalised service, responsive to your needs. 

Contact us

To discuss any of these options in more detail, please contact our Employer and Community Engagement team.

Their job is to make it easy for you to access our student and graduate talent and they have lots of experience of working with organisations across many sectors. Find out more about this team.