The secret value of completing an internship unrelated to your degree

By Fareha Khan, Events & Social Media Intern

There's no doubt that an internship can be a valuable experience. The typical approach is to intern with an organisation related to your degree. That makes sense, right?

But should you limit yourself only to internships (and other experiences) related to your degree?

Your time at university isn't just about getting a degree and heading out the door. It's also about learning new skills and exploring passions. It's about developing yourself both personally and professionally.

I’m a final-year Engineering student who's spent the last academic year as an Events & Social Media Intern with UofG Careers, and there are several reasons why I highly recommend applying for internships unrelated to your degree.

Become more well-rounded and adaptable

Adaptability and transferable skills in today’s rapidly evolving job market are highly important. Careers require well-rounded individuals; they entail engaging with the community, using new tech and software, promoting products, educating others and so much more. It can be difficult to accomplish all this only with skills from your degree.

As an Events & Social Media Intern, I’ve learnt skills in marketing, copywriting, content creation, media production, event management and much more. I’ve developed a wide range of skills beyond my degree programme, and the UofG Careers team has helped me to see the broadened scope of opportunities as a result.

Throughout your degree, you might not be one hundred percent sure of what your career will look like which is completely normal. But a versatile skill set gives your application a competitive and favourable edge while still searching for roles that feel right for you.

Expand and diversify your network

An important aspect of your career journey is your network. Engaging with others and building connections can help you find exciting opportunities, and you can further expand and diversify your network through an internship unrelated to your degree.

The world is highly interconnected with many overlapping industries so, working in different sectors, organisations and departments allows you to develop a diverse network which increases your chance of finding interesting opportunities.

As an Engineering student, I’d like to become a Charted Engineer. In my internship, I've helped organise networking events with employers and gotten to participate in them by speaking with organisation representatives and seeking out potential opportunities. As a result, I’ve gained numerous professional connections in engineering.

This summer, I’m teaching engineering in schools in Botswana with the society FemEng. Through my internship, I networked with many organisations, including one that became a sponsor for the project.

Moreover, my colleagues and manager from my internship can serve as references and/or help connect me with opportunities in the future.

An unrelated internship allows you to develop your network that can be utilised for your specific projects and your personal and professional development. Experienced professionals are often keen to share advice and discuss their experiences and can even become valuable mentors.

Develop yourself personally and professionally

Your degree can be a huge part of your personal identity. One might associate certain skill sets and personality traits to a degree. However, your degree doesn’t completely define who you are. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t limit you to the area of work it has been linked to.

Your time at university is a time to grow, learn about yourself as an individual and to try as many new things as possible. One way of achieving this is putting yourself in an unfamiliar environment, whether this is trying a new sport, joining a society, writing articles on topics that intrigue you or—as in my experience—completing an internship unrelated to your degree.

You are the writer of your own career and your own story. The world has so much to offer!

Apply now to be an Events & Social Media Intern with UofG Careers by Friday, 9 June 2023.

Other resources

Internship Hub: a collection of internships exclusively for University of Glasgow students

What do employers mean by a well-rounded candidate? Recruiters at Enterprise Rent-A-Car let us know: an article about the value of being a well-rounded candidate and how to show this during the recruitment process

SRC club and society directory: a directory of over 300 SRC-affiliated clubs and societies that can help you make friends and develop personally and professionally