Kick-start your summer with a day in the industry

Gain valuable insight and experience by developing an understanding of a typical day in a professional work environment

This unique opportunity will give you an insight into a professional and established work environment by spending a day or two within the industry.

Over the Easter vacation the Careers Service trailed the first ever Work Shadowing programme. Thirty-one students in their first year of studies set out to spend a day or two with a host organisation. Students were exposed to a variety of work environments and job roles and had the opportunity to ask questions and explore possible future careers.

Students spent time with a variety of industries based on their expressions of interest. Companies included technical consultancies, charities, banks, web and app developers. The short emersion into a company is designed to allow students a brief glimpse of the variety of working life and the skills and competencies required.

See further details on the work shadowing programme, applications for the summer cycle open 15 – 21 May 2017.

Comments from Imperial students who have participated in the Work Shadowing scheme

“This shadowing was much better than I expected- I was given a thorough explanation of the company and more surprisingly, the theory and software behind the operation of the radars. This definitely gave me a much deeper insight into a career I hadn’t encountered before, and opened up a whole new area for me to consider.”

“I feel more confident in entering into the world of work as I learnt that I could provide valuable skills to a work environment and feel as though I was able to make a difference in the company.”

“I have definitely learnt something in the work shadowing scheme. Firstly, I got to know some types of models that companies use to analyse data. Secondly, I saw the real-life application of programming language (specifically, Python) which motivates me to learn more about computing. Thirdly, I got to know the organisation structure and the roles of different departments in a small-sized company.”

“The ability to talk to people who have just left university and discuss why and what they decided to do after graduating was extremely valuable and