One of the major benefits of being at such a well-connected and well-situated university like LSE is the career opportunities and guidance in career exploration that it can provide. So much so, that LSE has just been named best in Europe for graduate employment outcomes!

Having been a second-year undergraduate looking to explore career options this past year, I was relieved to see LSE offers several unique services and opportunities.

Summer Internship Programme

LSE runs a “summer internship programme” which is designed to help students who haven’t secured a summer internship by fast-tracking them into internship roles at affiliated companies of LSE. There are dozens of companies covering a whole range of industries on this programme, that all look to hire one or two interns. The programme is open exclusively to penultimate year LSE undergraduates with less than 12 weeks of professional experience, which means it is targeted only at those who will find it most helpful. Of course, there is no guarantee that this programme will end in an internship offer, but it offers a greater chance of doing so and at the very least serves as good experience to go through the process.

Skills-Accelerator Programme

LSE also offers a skills-accelerator programme each summer, which aims to develop core skills that employers value. This is open to all students regardless of their year group at LSE or their experience. The programme pairs students with a leading employer where they can work on a real-world project. This is a beneficial experience not only for gaining experience and developing skills, but also because it makes a great addition to a CV since you can mention the experience and skills gained, whilst also having an LSE certificate associated with it (which always has high standing). As such, this a really great thing to do in the first two years and is a viable alternative to internships if you want something different.

Research Internships

For another option, applying to LSE research positions for students is always a great idea. Professors are constantly looking for students to help them on research projects. The roles and responsibilities vary on each project but as a minimum they provide a great chance to gain research skills and quantitative experience. These skills are essential in the modern job market and will hugely boost chances of securing internships and graduate opportunities.

Student Societies

Societies can also offer great insight, inspiration and connections as well. The business-related societies at LSE are most helpful for this. Many of these will hold frequent events with business leaders in their fields which offers a great chance to learn more about a specific industry or specific companies, whilst also being a great chance to secure connections. At the very least though, being member of any of these wide-ranging student societies allows you to find out exactly what type of career you may or may not be interested in since attending these events and networking with people will offer exclusive insight into the industry. In my first year, I went to the ‘Portas consulting event’ with the Sports Business Society, which not only opened my eyes to the worlds of sports consulting but also encouraged me to explore consulting more generally as a possible future profession. So these societies can be a great source of career inspiration.

LSE Careers Service

LSE also has great services offering career support and guidance. LSE Career Hub is an exclusive marketplace that only LSE students have access to. These jobs can vary from part-time work, to internships or even to graduate and full-time jobs. These are all with firms that LSE is affiliated with or connected to so you can sure they of high quality and that these firms know the value of LSE students.

A crucial feature of Career Hub is that it connects to you to career advisors. These are bookable advisors who you can speak to seek a wide range of services such as CV/Cover letter writing, career planning, practice interviews and so much more. They are solely there to help with you career aspirations and they are experienced in what they do. I can personally vouch for them being a big help for me this year and as such I would urge any incoming students to use them as early and as much as possible.