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Showcasing Knowledge Exchange within the Careers and Student Enterprise Service

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Docklands

The Careers and Student Enterprise Service works to ensure that careers is embedded in everything we do.

We ensure that our graduates are equipped to adapt, lead and take on any challenge in the rapidly evolving world of industry 5.0.

We have highlighted some of the outstanding opportunities our team have created specifically for our students to develop their professional Fitness and Mental Wealth skills. By engaging in real life situations and - through knowledge exchange - they are making a tangible impact to the organisation and communities that they are working alongside.

If you are interested in finding out how working with our students can benefit your community or organisation, please get in touch with the Career Zone Team at careerzone@uel.ac.uk.

1. Internships

The University of East London's Funded Internship Scheme funds and facilitates a range of internship opportunities both within UEL Schools and Services, and external organisations. The Scheme aims to provide opportunities which are part time and flexible to suit the needs of current students. Internships last 12 weeks at 14 hours per week, to be worked flexibly around students' studies.

Read more about our internships

The Funded Internship Scheme project aims to provide students with practical work-based learning experience which will boost their CV, increase their confidence, widen their networks and assist them to progress into graduate level employment. The project aims to provide a wide range of work-based learning opportunities for students across a number of industries, that are 12 weeks long and part time (14 hours a week) and flexible to fit in with their studies and busy schedules. The project includes wrap-around employability support which is delivered in-person and online.

The purpose of the project is to provide students with real-life experience of both the workplace and the full recruitment lifecycle. By applying for the scheme, students gain experience with applications, interview techniques, assessment centres, in-work etiquette and using their internship experience to demonstrate their skills and experience in future applications and interviews.

By engaging with the scheme, students are introduced to all the support services within the Careers and Student Enterprise including Careers Coaching, Mentoring, Volunteering and Enterprise. We work collaboratively with other colleagues to ensure that wrap-around employability support is provided.

This helps boost the overall engagement with Careers and Student Enterprise as well as student engagement with the Career Zone platform.

Listen to our students talking about the Funded Internship Scheme

2. Placements

The Post Graduate Placements Team supports international students on Tier 4 visas who are undertaking a master’s in Computing, Engineering and Business Administration. Each programme includes an embedded placement of two academic terms that lasts approximately eight months.

Our international students come with additional language skills and the capability of offering diverse perspectives in their strategic approach to challenges offering employers new possibilities. 

With three intakes per year in January, May and September employers have the possibility of engaging with students across the academic year and aren’t tied to traditional engagement cycles that typically commence in September.

For organisations wishing to find out more about how they too can benefit from hosting a placement student, please contact academicplacements@uel.ac.uk.

Read more about placements

Managing Director Venkata Tirumalasetty, from Million IT Solutions, has been a consistent recipient of UEL talent taking 25 students on embedded placements in the last three years, as well as recruiting permanent members of staff to his team. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 he feared the worst and saw his resilience - and that of his company's - tested. However, he experienced first-hand the benefits engagement could bring. With the support of UEL's interns, the knowledge exchanged between his organisation and that of the institution enabled his business to grow. Marketing interns from the MBA programme were able to identify new prospects and identify new user requirements providing unique insights, which in turn generated more sales. 
Here is what Venkata had to say about the experience:

"From the bottom of our MILLION IT SOLUTIONS heart we wanted to take a moment to thank you for your help and support to our company. Your team helped to grow our company business. Now we know the value of interns because of the University of East London student team work. Even throughout this Covid time your team supported a lot. For sure, I wanted to let you know that your students have played a big part in our company's success. We are so grateful to work with UEL that shows its appreciation and support so generously."

For employers who might think that the prospect of organising the placement, including the screening of candidates, will be burdensome, it’s good to know that our staff are on hand to manage the initial engagement and provide guided support throughout the process. In Venkata's words:

Thank you for taking the time to sort out the resumes, the little things about the placement agreements and always finding a way to offer a better internship experience."

 million IT solution case studies
 million IT solution logo

3. UEL Change Day

UEL Change Day is hosted in collaboration with We Make Change. The event is a fantastic opportunity for students to volunteer one day with an exciting and innovative social enterprise, completing or problem solving a specific task. 

A range of social enterprises join the event; from one enterprise supporting the transformation of refugees into entrepreneurs, to another creating an app that provided an educational platform showcasing Black British figures and their achievements. During the UEL Change Day, student volunteers are tasked with research, content writing, designing a blueprint for a new program and much more!

Read more about UEL Change Day

The University of East London strives to engage in knowledge exchange with a number of different entities, including social enterprises.

UEL recently partnered with different social enterprises through We Make Change to deliver a fantastic UEL Change Day where students used their skills to support each project. Tokunbo, a 2022 postgraduate law student, used their research and content writing skills to provide support to FOBBS, an education and inspirational platform to showcase Black British figures and their achievements. Not only did Tokunbo use their knowledge and skills to be part of a generational app, but the enterprise themselves greatly benefitted from the exchange into such a content-heavy project. By researching and creating a profile of a Black British figure, Tokunbo was able to contribute to the organisation’s app and the overall mission of the organisation.

Here is some additional feedback from a few of the students and social enterprises that took part in the recent UEL Change Day:

I had very engaging and inspiring conversations and learned more beyond the task that was assigned to us. - Student

I enjoyed the new things I have learned during the session; I actually was able to make decisions and contribute in decision making process." - Student

I enjoyed working with a positive and dedicated team." - Student

Co creating with students was a great experience." – Social Enterprise

We found the Change Day highly valuable." – Social Enterprise

Taking part in the Change Day provided my project with additional help and research that it needs. This is a very content-heavy project and it's massively important to have dedicated and engaged volunteers, so having the Change Makers for a few hours was invaluable." – Social Enterprise

Watch a video from a previous UEL Change Day
 UEL Change Day poster

4. Volunteering

Student volunteering offers students volunteering opportunities that are both in person and virtual, providing them to have the opportunity to apply their classroom learning to practical setups, while simultaneously giving back to the community. 

Read more about volunteering

Volunteering offers students the opportunity to learn beyond the classroom, whilst giving back to the community. It also provides students the chance to build on their community connections, a key element of delivering "Professional Fitness, Mental Wealth, Career Zones & Career Passport Transformation" (a part of the Vision 2028 Strategic Implementation Map). 

There has been a drive to increase rates of volunteering across the different student cohorts, especially through the creation of a dynamic online volunteering service. By developing the online aspect, the Volunteering Service will be able to increase their outreach and the accessibility of the service, as students are able to utilise online spaces to engage with different communities. In the process, our students will gain the confidence, skills and experience that they need for the World of Work. 

Moving forward, there will be continued development of a dynamic volunteering service focused on supporting and engaging with students in a dual and synchronous programme of workshops, extra-curricular and in the curriculum interventions. As part of this, the Volunteering service will design and deliver innovative engagement activities to attract those who do not engage through more traditional approaches. 

Student Volunteering combines with other interventions to close the attainment gap and to positively influence graduate employability outcomes. Activities are intended to provide a dynamic service that is informed by regular consultation with students, academics and community partners, and which meets the volunteering and MW curriculum needs of all students, whilst creating a culture of volunteering and community involvement across UEL's staff and student communities.

Watch our students' talk about their volunteering journey
UEL Student celebrates "Volunteer of the Year" Awards
 Volunteering 5

Case Study Public and Community Engagement 


It unsurprising that the University of East London falls within the top 10% of its cluster regarding the public and community engagement perspective. UEL has a long-standing history of civic engagement through volunteering, community projects and partnerships.

UEL student Aidan Elmore (Sport, Physical Education and Development, 2023) has been using his sports and physical education knowledge to provide physical activity sessions within his local community. Through the fantastic local charity, Future Youth Zone, Aidan has worked with primary school children to teach them tennis and run mini athletics. His volunteering has supported the charity’s mission to provide a safe and fun place for young people to spend their free time whilst inspiring young people to live healthier lives. Through this opportunity, Aidan has contributed to his local community as well as gained the opportunity to put his learnings into practice and as he told us, 'Enhance my leadership skills and confidence'.

Here is what Raymond Lau Volunteer Recruitment & Staff Training Manager at Future Youth Zone had to say about Aidan's volunteering:

"Aidan has been volunteering with Future from the get-go before he even started at UEL. Not only has he been supporting our tennis and cricket sessions he also ran half marathon for us to raise money for Future. As such, I believe he was awarded Barking and Dagenham volunteer of the year award in 2020 - 2021.

Aidan is truly an amazing volunteer not only here at Future but also within the borough. He has been volunteering at Future since we first opened our doors supporting our sports offer mainly on our inclusion sessions. Although he was shy when he first joined us, he has come leaps and bounds since we first met him... Aidan is a truly inspiring in terms of what he does for the young people and the community."

Find out more about our services below

Work with our students

We work flexibly with you to promote your opportunities and connect you with our talented student body, based on your needs and available resource.

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The Career Zone platform prepares students and graduates for career success.

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