Working together to promote excellence in Physics SEPnet Summer
Internship Scheme 2013 Veronica Benson Director of Employer
Liaison
Slide 2
Working together to promote excellence in Physics What is
SEPnet? The South East Physics Network (SEPnet) is a consortium of
physics departments in 7 universities The SEPnet partners work
together to deliver excellence in physics through collaboration,
teaching and research Includes an outreach programme to increase
student interest A virtual Graduate School offering a European
Masters course A collaborative research programme at PhD level An
employer programme to develop graduate skills and further employer
engagement
Slide 3
Working together to promote excellence in Physics What is the
SEPnet Summer Internship Scheme? An annual scheme offering
placements to students at partner universities Employers who
recruit physics graduates offer 8- week summer projects to physics
students Projects are circulated to students who can apply for
roles
Slide 4
Working together to promote excellence in Physics Why should I
consider the SEPnet Summer Internship Scheme? Practise applying for
a role in a relevant field Try out a job or research Develop your
employability skills Receive a bursary of 1,360 to cover your
expenses One in three graduate posts are filled by people who have
previously worked for that company as an intern* Two-thirds of
companies in the top 100 will not even CONSIDER recruiting a
graduate without relevant work experience* Attend the SEPnet
Students Expo to present a poster *Source: People Management
Magazine January 2011
Slide 5
Working together to promote excellence in Physics What sort of
placements are available? Range of roles and organisations Last
year we had placements with QinetiQ, Culham Centre for Fusion
Energy, Intech Science Centre and Planetarium, Selex SE, Brighton
& Hove Albion Football Club, National Physical Laboratory,
SMEs, Research placements at partner universities and many more
This year so far also BAE Systems, AMEC, Good Energy, Met Office,
Thales Group
Slide 6
Working together to promote excellence in Physics What kind of
work is available? A wide range of opportunities including: o
Analysing data from CERN o Testing software for fusion experiments
o Website development o Demonstrating science experiments to school
students o Developing techniques for detecting opium crops from
space o Setting up simulator-based military training events
Slide 7
Working together to promote excellence in Physics How does it
work? You need to register with SEPnet from December and send us
your CV to apply SEPnet collects project descriptions from
organisations We collate the best projects for you to apply to. We
email you the list of projects mid-February Its then a competitive
process. Find the projects that interest you, apply direct to the
organisation. You should find out if you have been successful by
April. For further details, visit:
http://www.sepnet.ac.uk/employer_services/summer_intern
ships/index.html
http://www.sepnet.ac.uk/employer_services/summer_intern
ships/index.html
Slide 8
Working together to promote excellence in Physics How does it
work? Organisations select students either by: o Face to face
interview o Telephone interview o CV We strongly advise you visit
your Careers Service before applying The Careers Service can give
advice on: o Writing a good CV o Interview techniques o Practice
interviews o Application forms
Slide 9
Working together to promote excellence in Physics FAQs What if
I want to go on holiday? o Thats fine with SEPnet just check with
your potential supervisor before you accept a placement What should
the bursary cover? o Living expenses. (Check with your host company
to see if they cover or contribute to travel/expenses) What if the
placement is some distance from where Im living? o Be realistic
about how far you can travel o You can arrange an accommodation
swap via our Facebook page
Slide 10
Working together to promote excellence in Physics What
employers have said: Having a student enables us to carry out a
task on a more novel/research orientated basis than we would be
able to commit the resources to otherwise. Well organised. Good way
of engaging with students. Provided a good number of applications
from which we could choose a suitable candidate. Chris was very
quickly thrown into the set-up and execution of a customer trial,
working with scientists, engineers, military trainees and
behavioural observers. Chris rapidly learned practical
communication and team working skills to help deliver a successful
trial. Good quality students. Impressed with applicants. Even the
worst ones would have been good. We took SEPnet students for the
second year running this year and have been very impressed with the
calibre of the students, their capabilities and the general high
standard. For your records (as its always good to hear success
stories) we have just made a permanent job offer to one of the
students we had in 2011.
Slide 11
Working together to promote excellence in Physics What students
have said: I would certainly recommend doing a placement in the
future. Ive had an amazing summer and even though it meant I didnt
have much time off, I was enjoying it so much that it really did
feel like a break. Doing a SEPnet placement gives you a hand-on
experience of different jobs (industrial or research). Such
experience will help me to make a more conscious decision after my
graduation. Doing a summer placement is a great opportunity to gain
as much relevant work experience as possible. Its one of the best
ways to improve your CV, and impress your prospective employers
Every day you hear how hard the job market is getting, you need
every bit of help you can get. SEPnet offered a chance to get
valuable and relevant work experience. How could I say no? Doing a
SEPnet placement hugely improves your skills and knowledge. It
looks amazing on your CV and it gives you a chance to network with
the science industry.
Slide 12
Working together to promote excellence in Physics Summary of
benefits Valuable work experience for your CV A chance to develop
your employability skills A chance to find out what you do (and
dont want to do) See the relevance of your studies and even improve
your grades! Make useful contacts you may even get a job! Receive a
bursary to help cover your living expenses! Present your project at
the annual Students Expo
Slide 13
Working together to promote excellence in Physics Some tips
Apply for a placement EVEN IF you dont know what you want to do
Apply for more than one placement Prepare a good CV Treat the
interview seriously Research the organisation and check you can get
there!
Slide 14
Working together to promote excellence in Physics Yash Gupta
from Southampton with Professor Adrian Podoleanu of University of
Kent Alexander May from Kent with Chris Smith of Kittiwake
Developments
Slide 15
Working together to promote excellence in Physics Next steps
Visit www.sepnet.ac.ukwww.sepnet.ac.uk Register at:
http://www.sepnet.ac.uk/employer_services/sum
mer_internships/information_students.html
http://www.sepnet.ac.uk/employer_services/sum
mer_internships/information_students.html Send your CV to:
[email protected][email protected]
Slide 16
Working together to promote excellence in Physics Other
placement schemes IOP's Top 40 Work Placements Scheme offers
penultimate year physics students bursaries of 2,000 to carry out
8-wk summer placements
http://www.iop.org/careers/top40placements/index.htmlhttp://www.iop.org/careers/top40placements/index.html
closing date for students to submit their applications is 26 April
2013 see placement guide:
http://www.ntec.ac.uk/refresher/work-placement.pdf.http://www.ntec.ac.uk/refresher/work-placement.pdf
IBM physics students can join their 3-month summer placement scheme
Extreme Blue. applications will close before February
http://www-05.ibm.com/employment/uk/students/extreme-blue/index.shtml
Thales offers students and graduates the opportunity to spend
between 3 and 12 months at one of their UK locations students and
graduates are recruited into engineering roles eg Systems, Software
& Hardware Engineering
http://ukgrads.thalesgroup.com/internships.aspxhttp://ukgrads.thalesgroup.com/internships.aspx
DSTL (Defence Science & Technology Laboratory) summer
placements are available to students looking for an 8-12 week job
salaries start at approx 14,500 pro rata
https://www.dstl.gov.uk/Summervacationplacements STFC (Science
& Technology Facilities Council) scheme open for applications
from March until April. last year 9 places available and 115
applications. Students are paid 1,100 pm
http://www.stfc.ac.uk/PPD/students/38521.aspx
Slide 17
Working together to promote excellence in Physics Other
placement schemes National Grid 12 week summer internships
typically offered during the penultimate year at university Salary
15,600 pa (pro-rata) Roles available across a number of business
areas within National Grid Visit internships at
http://www.nationalgridcareers.com/Development-
Opportunities/Students/The-Programmes/http://www.nationalgridcareers.com/Development-
Opportunities/Students/The-Programmes/ Renishaw take on a number of
students during the summer holidays for 8 and 14 weeks. location -
Gloucestershire looking for individuals for engineering, physics
and manufacturing having your own transport is essential must be
eligible to work in the UK and have a valid visa applications still
accepted March/April for summer placements
http://www.renishaw.com/en/placements-work-experience-and-bursaries--12503
Ford Run a summer 8-week paid placements scheme for undergraduates
Engineering positions, open to students studying physics degrees
Visit http://www.ford.co.uk/ to find out about summer placements in
2013http://www.ford.co.uk/
Slide 18
Working together to promote excellence in Physics Thank you!
[email protected] www.sepnet.ac.uk