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Essentials Careers Gaining experience RED Awards RED award Completing the award Paid and professional work experience

Paid work, work experience and internships

These hours will give you the necessary experience that students now need in an increasingly competitive job market.

To fulfil the Experience section of the award you must complete a minimum of 35 hours of activity. This could include activity such as:

  • Paid work
  • Internships
  • Work Experience/Work Shadowing
  • Insight Days
  • Volunteering (you must have a minimum of one hour volunteering as part of the Experience section)

These hours will give you the necessary experience that students now need in an increasingly competitive job market.

You can look for part-time work to complement your studies and Careers can check your CV, Covering Letter, Application Form and even provide support on creating a professional LinkedIn profile to put you in the very best position when applying.

You may also already have a part-time job and this can be counted towards your Experience hours (as long as you were registered as a University of Reading student when completing this).

If you are an undergraduate in your first year, you may also wish to consider an Insight Day/Programme. These tend to take place during the Easter break (with deadlines well before then!) and will give you the opportunity to gain an insight into a company and the work it does.

If you are looking for paid work opportunities, you may want to take a look at the following links:

Providing evidence of your activity

When recording your hours through the MyJobsOnline Pathway you will need to provide evidence of your completed hours. In this area the following may be suitable evidence:

  • Part-time job/paid work – an email from your manager/timesheets could be used as evidence for this activity.
  • Internships – if you receive a certificate at the end of your internships this could be used as proof oh activity. Alternatively, you could use an email from the organisation your internship was with.
  • Insight days/work experience – if you receive an email from the organisation who provided this opportunity then this can be used as proof of hours.

Read about the training aspect of RED