Insight Days

Insight opportunities: your gateway to industry experience

Many large organisations offer structured insight days, or weeks. They are typically aimed at first year students and usually take place over Easter or summer.

Insight days are sometimes given different names. You might see them advertised as spring weeks (in the banking sector).

It’s possible to gain insights into working in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME). This is more likely to be through arranging work shadowing.

Benefits

Insight days can help you to:

• develop commercial awareness 
• understand the culture of a particular organisation. This can help you tailor your applications for further experience or graduate jobs
• learn about opportunities and roles within an organisation. This can help you decide where your future career interests lie
• provide evidence of your motivation to work in the sector when applying for graduate jobs
• make contacts within the sector and potentially arrange further work experience where you can take a more practical role

Insight days don’t tend to be paid, as you’re not employed, or completing significant work for the organisation. However, they usually cover expenses such as travel and lunch. Opportunities which last a week or longer are more likely to offer payment. 

When to apply

Applications for insight days tend to open in September and some may still be available up to March. Opportunities with large companies can be competitive and will close early in some sectors, particularly banking. 

See our applications section for advice on how to write an effective CV, covering letter and application form.

Finding opportunities

Find opportunities on these websites:

• Careers Service: Events – can include insight days and events aimed at first years
• Student Ladder  – opportunities for first year students in a range of sectors
• Rate My Placement  – insight programmes for first year students, mostly in finance
• e4s – first year insight days
• Rare Recruitment – recruitment agency offering a series of introductory career programmes for first year BME undergraduates interested in law, banking and consulting. 

If you can't find insight days advertised in your area of interest, try arranging work shadowing instead.