Information on summer internships and careers is still a work in progress! The committee will be updating this with further details soon - any useful experiences people are happy to contribute would be very welcome, please contact the committee for further details!
Unlike secondary school which might offer more support, it is easy to feel stuck in the dark at university about where to go next.
During summers, many people go on internships, placements, and cultural exchanges. There are two main reasons for this: exposure to see if a job is right for you, and CV/network-building. Especially in corporate, internships can also lead to return offers, meaning you're guaranteed a spot in the company after you graduate.
Oftentimes at university, experience comes from extracurricular work and many societies organise tons of relevant careers-focused events - you'll find some listed below.
Oxford's Micro-Internship platform is very useful for finding work experience. Every vac, the programme offers a week or two (usually Weeks 9 and 10 after term) working with an organisation or company.
Very importantly: don't worry if it doesn't work out!! There is so much out there to explore, and it's very easy to get caught up in the rush of application season which, unlike school, doesn't receive much support or guidance from the university since everyone is doing different things. Just keep trying out new things and building skills, and eventually opportunities will come along. Every step is a step forward!
For good examples of CVs, you can look at some examples from the Oxford Careers Service here.
Some opportunities may also require transcripts or cumulative GPAs, which is not what Oxford uses for its grading system. You can find some examples of GPA conversion online, and it is always better to seek clarification, but generally the convention is:
70+ / Distinction / First = 4
65 - 69 / Merit / 2:1 = 3.7
60 - 64 / Merit / 2:1 = 3.3
55 - 59 / Pass / 2:2 = 3
50 - 54 / Pass / 2:2 = 2.7
40-49 / Pass / 3rd = 2.3
Depending on your chosen pathway, internship and graduate recruitment usually begins in late summer/Michaelmas (penultimate year for internships; final year for graduate schemes and entry-level jobs).
Below you'll find some introductions to common career pathways to get you started.
Graduate School
Graduate schools often require academic references. Really work to maintain good relations with your Director of Studies and your tutors so that they have nice things to say about you - but don't be afraid to branch out and show off your research, leadership and service experience.
Graduate school is very expensive, and scholarships are an extremely coveted way to receive funding! Popular scholarships include:
- Rhodes Scholars: Funding two years of postgraduate education, for international students planning to remain in Oxford.
- Fulbright Scholars: For UK citizens applying to the USA.
- Kennedy Scholars: For UK citizens applying to Harvard or MIT.
- Knight-Hennessy Scholars: For postgraduate study at Stanford.
- Schwarzman Scholars: A one-year Masters in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University, and yes it's the same Schwarzman as the new Schwarzman Centre!
- Yenching Scholars: A two-year programme on China Studies in Peking University.
- Corpus Christi's vom Clemm Fellowship to Harvard: Next entry 2027