Politics Work Experience

First term in third year for me has been about applying for graduate schemes. To keep with that theme, I thought I’d give you a quick whirlwind tour of what experiences York and other volunteering organisations can offer you. I have spent a lot of time writing application answers about my experiences in the past few weeks!

Throughout the year, the Politics department will host careers events specifically for Politics students and handily a few weeks ago, they had a event with current students talking about what they had been doing.

First up was Giulia to talk about the Amnesty International Student Society, focusing on refugees (a topical issue at the moment). Giulia is part of Amnesty’s committee on campus; she is the campaign officer. At the minute, Amnesty are campaigning for ‘Refugees Welcome Here’. This ranges from tweeting photos of people with the #RefugeesWelcome to fundraising Jamnesty, a music night at a local pub.

Secondly was Matt, who did the Politics@Work Scheme. This is only for Politics first years. It takes place in the summer term after your exams when you have finished your first year. You can choose which project appeals to you the most. Previous examples include creating a York poverty timeline for the Rowntree society or leading workshops in schools on voting and immigration as Matt did.

The Student Internship Bureau (SIB) is open to all York students. Internships are mostly over summer although there are a few throughout the year as well if you keep an eye out. Jack spent last summer working for Selby District Council helping to coordinate their annual canvas for the electoral roll. He dealt with specialist groups which included the elderly living in nursing homes.

And last but not least me! Over the summer, I went to Zimbabwe with the International Citizen Service (ICS). ICS is a government funded scheme for UK citizens between 18 and 25 so anyone can apply to it. I spent ten weeks abroad living with a host family and working with a charity. I taught farmers about saving and lending schemes to try to raise their income. The people I was working with didn’t earn enough in a month to feed their families. It was an amazing experience that I fully recommend anyone and everyone to apply for. To get onto the scheme, I had to send in an application form. The careers service at York can go over any application forms with you and also can help you practice your interview skills – something I will definitely be using!

Filling in grad scheme applications has made me realise how much I have actually done here at York. There is loads to do as long as you make the effort to look for it.