Virtual work experience programmes

Available anytime

Forage

The programmes through Forage are developed by top graduate recruiters to mirror real-life work within their organisation. With simulated projects and tasks, you will get an in-depth understanding of what projects you might complete and what skills you would need if you worked at the organisation and/or in a particular sector. The programmes cover a wide range of industries and roles, so there is something for everyone. There are no time restrictions so when you complete the programmes is up to you. Each programme takes around five to six hours to complete.

Access our Forage landing page to get started. There's no need to apply, simply create an account and access the virtual experiences which interest you most. You could also potentially be recognised by recruiters at top companies on the Forage platform.

 

Digdata - Library resource

Digdata partners with clients who present problems that they want solutions to, and run virtual challenges for you to engage with. Previous clients have included Facebook, Capital One, BT and Experian. Data, or information, is something that everyone will come across in any role or sector, and being able to analyse this information and produce solutions are skills that employers are seeking.

You can access all previous challenges and complete these in your own time via the “Library resource” tab on the Digdata website.

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Available ad-hoc throughout the year

Bright Network

Bright Network hold a four-day online live programme called "Internship Experience UK" over the summer (typically in June). The programme is available across different sector streams and is made up of skills sessions, sector specific insights from employers, graduate panels, and tasks to work on as teams made up of students from across the UK. You can expect the programme to run 09:00 to 17:00 over a four day period. There is also the option of undertaking the programmes on-demand over a two week period following the live programme ending.

There is a short application form that will ask you why you want to take part. There is not a limit on the number of places available but if an application form is not filled in with a proper answer, then there is a chance that you will not be accepted to the programme.

We advertise this programme on Career Connect when available, but information can also be found on the Bright Network website.

 

Code First Girls

For access when registering please use code "UPSHE".

Being able to code is such a valuable skill to have, no matter what your field of study is. Tech touches every industry, from building websites, to understanding data, to developing technology that helps solve real-world problems like climate change and disease prevention.

Code First Girls is open to those who are female or identify as female or non-binary.

Kickstarter courses
Exclusive courses for current university students and those that have graduated in the past two years. The courses are designed to fit around your full-time studies and delivered remotely by university regions. You’ll combine content, action and community to learn the skills you need to break into the technology industry.

Classes are held in the evening one night a week (usually a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday) and run for 8-weeks.

Please select the region “Yorkshire and the Humber” or “All UK and Ireland”. Places are limited on kickstarter courses.

Sprints
Sprints are run over 4 weeks, with one x 1-hour session per week going into the detail of a key topic area. Each sprint will include live sessions (or recorded if you can’t make it), a session quiz, and upon completion by the deadline, a certification.

Challenges
Challenges allow you to test your knowledge in a key topic area with a project or challenge to complete. Much like a hackathon, there will be a kick-off event, time to develop your response, and a final presentation session – with this all happening over a period of four weeks.

Each challenge will begin with an event where the challenge statement and project will be presented. Usually, these will be presented by a partner company who may be seeking solutions to real-life tech challenges and looking for tech talent to show them the way!

You’ll have around two weeks to complete the challenge and submit your response.

To close out each challenge there is a final session that involves the partners as judges to see the finalist presentations and award a challenge winner.

You can complete past sprints and challenges on demand. Please note there is no certificate of completion for completing on-demand sessions.

 

Digdata - Live challenges

Digdata partners with clients who present problems that they want solutions to, and run virtual challenges for you to engage with. Previous clients have included Facebook, Capital One, BT and Experian. Data, or information, is something that everyone will come across in any role or sector, and being able to analyse this information and produce solutions are skills that employers are seeking. There are typically two to three challenges per semester.

Each challenge starts with a forty five minute briefing from the client organisation where they present their problem. Following the briefing you will have ten days in which to come up with  a solution and submit this. How you approach the problem is up to you. You will be provided with data from the organisation to help solve the problem so you might create models, but you could also use it to identify trends and create a marketing strategy for example.

There is no application form to complete, simply register onto the challenge that interests you. We advertise each challenge on Career Connect when available, but information can also be found on the Digdata website.

 

ProjectSet

ProjectSet runs three different programmes throughout the year. Two of these are "hackathons" which is where you will work in teams with other students from across the UK on creating ideas and solutions around specific focus areas.

• UniHack is a three week hackathon focused on socio-economic issues that typically runs in November to December.
• ICE or Innovation Challenge for Entrepreneurship, is a three week hackathon focused on innovation and entrepreneurship that typically runs February to March.
• Skills Bootcamp is a six week skill development programme with masterclasses and micro-projects that typically runs June - August.

There is no application form to complete, simply register onto the programme that interests you. We advertise each programme on Career Connect when available, but information can also be found on the ProjectSet website.