Perhaps you are already doing one and would like support in getting the best out of it? You might even be further along in your career and looking for ways to gain the experience that will help you to change direction.

In the working world, it’s no secret that an internship can provide valuable experience, enhance your career development and increase your chances of securing the job you really want. But what actually is an internship? If it isn’t called an ‘internship’ does it have less credibility? Are all internships or work experiences going to give you the knowledge and skills that you need?

If you want to learn more about internships and the other work experience options available, and explore how you can obtain and maximise the right opportunities to support your chosen career, then this free course Internships and other work experiences will help you.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, you will notice that certain parts of this course, e.g. how to give a good handshake, are currently less applicable due to social distancing rules. You may also find Week 7, which focuses on virtual internships, more relevant to your plans than you expected. We haven’t removed anything from the course at this stage as it should all become relevant again when we are able to return to normality. We will review this decision as longer-term Government advice becomes clearer.

Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.

Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation – which also displays your Open University badge.

The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our start-of-course survey . Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our end-of-course survey . Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.

Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• Describe and identify different types of internship or other work experience opportunity
• Reflect on existing skills and attributes and recognise how building on them through an internship or other work experience can bring value
• Build an effective personal brand to use on social media and throughout the job application process
• Identify strategies for maximising the chance of success, both during an internship or other work experience, and beyond
• Define personal goals for undertaking an internship or other work experience, and produce a set of actions to support the achievement of these goals.