University usually consists of three or four years. The length depends on your program and faculty. There are also other degrees that are even longer. In my case, when I went to Uni, I chose for a MEng in Computer Science. This was 4 years, with a compulsory summer placement between the 3rd and 4th year.

What is an internship?

An internship is a three months full immersion in a company. This, most of the times, focuses on a specific project you need to complete by the end of the period. The best times to look for one are the gap between the 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th. If you are looking at the corporate world, the big players want to hire you in the summer of your penultimate year (so they can offer a job after you finish University).

A smart move to get an internship in banks is to see if they have spring weeks during your first year. These are a one week programs where they give you an overview of what the company does. If you look smart, they will fast track you to an internship the following year.

On the other hand, if you go for a startup, anything can happen. Startups don't have a scheduled number of people they need to hire. We have seen companies who had to hire 60 people in less than 30 days in order to scale, while others hire 1 person every year.

The importance of an internship

If you are looking for employment after Uni, an internship is really important. This gives you a better chance to get the job with the same company, but also add a nice experience to your CV. At the same time, it gives you an opportunity to experiment new things and maybe you can spend 3 months in an industry you would have never imagined of being in, you haven't got anything to lose.

When I had to make the decision, I had two offers: one from a Manchester based startup, called CANDDi, and CERN. These were two completely different worlds. I could have chosen to join a team of 4, at the time, or go for CERN. It took me a month to make the decision. In the end, I opted for the small team of 4.

My thinking was pretty straightforward. I wanted to do a startup after Uni, hence I am here, so I had to see how a small company operates and think. A big company wouldn't have given me the same exact experience.

When I joined CANDDi, I was lucky enough to pick up a technology that was pretty innovative and new at the time, React Native. For non technicals, this is something that makes super easy to build apps. It was really interesting to play with. I was also able to ship the first CANDDi App by the end of the summer.

With the same technology, I started doing freelancing during my last year of University. This paid for my entire year of living costs and all these months spent developing Emma. The other interesting bit is that even Emma is developed with this same technology.

It's amazing to see how a small decision has impacted my finances.  That's why I think you should definitely pick an internship while being at Uni. The decision should be taken regardless of the size of the company or industry. It just gives you a better insight into how the world works.