25 Aug Beyond “great experience”: what paid internships actually do from the perspective of a paid intern!

The LSE Internship Fund Scheme made it possible for me, Emma, a second year International Social and Public Policy student, to take up a role at Shared Intelligence. As a young person, I am acutely aware of what it’s like to navigate the pathways into further education and a career that genuinely interests me. Shared Intelligence’s research on the value of paid internships is therefore particularly interesting to me, and in this blog, I explore several of its findings from my perspective as a paid intern.

The wider context

There are many challenges facing young people when pursuing opportunities after education. The graduate job market is tightening and conversations surrounding access to internships have become increasingly urgent. Entry-level roles now routinely ask for prior experience, while the internships that could provide this experience are often unpaid and poorly advertised. Access therefore ends up depending less on ability and motivation, and more on financial means or existing personal connections.

Shared Intelligence has heard directly from young people on these issues through our work on the Get Britain Working plans in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and Kent and Medway. Young people described a saturated job market, an exhausting and impersonal application process, and repeated rejection with little feedback.

The recent Milburn Review depicts the scale of these challenges – nearly 1 million young people in the UK are currently not in employment, education, or training (NEET), a figure that could rise to 1.25 million within five years without intervention. The findings are also unambiguous: this is not a question of young people lacking ambition or skills, but of access to opportunities, support, and employers willing to take a chance on their potential.

While at Si, I read about a recent evaluation of the New Talent Future Leaders (NTFL) programme – a programme which aimed, through collaboration, to improve access to good-quality jobs in the creative sector for young people in East London. The Shared Training Employment Programme (STEP) under NTFL, offered paid internships as a pathway to work. An approach which is particularly valuable in the creative sector, where access to jobs is often informal and dependent on personal networks. Four findings of the evaluation stood out:

• Paid opportunity. These paid placements made training possible without adding to existing financial pressures.
• A twelve-month placement. The length of the placement gave trainees time to build confidence, understand workplace expectations and become real members of their teams.
• Wraparound support. One-to-one mentoring, ongoing pastoral support and structured offboarding provided a safety net for both trainees and employers when challenges arose.
• Confidence and networks. Delivery partners reported real growth in participants’ confidence and aspirations and the opportunity to build relationships with employers helped trainees see themselves as having a place in the industry.

Shared Intelligence’s evaluation found that STEP worked due to its recognition of the barriers to employment as multiple and interconnected, rather than reducible to skills alone.

“[STEP] was the soft launch of a lot of things that I feel like I am doing now.” – STEP participant

My reflections

That idea of a “soft launch” resonates strongly with my own experience. Sometimes the biggest impact of an internship is not a specific skill learned, but the confidence and experience needed to imagine yourself building a career in a field that previously felt out of reach.

The LSE Internship Fund, like STEP, made it financially possible for me to take this opportunity, highlighting the importance of paid internships in creating fairer access. Shared Intelligence’s work has given me hands-on experience conducting research, synthesising findings, and presenting them to the team. The clearest outcome for me has been confidence, something the NTFL evaluation repeatedly returns to. Although harder to measure than a new skill or a job offer, being trusted with real projects and treated as part of the team has helped me begin to see myself as someone who belongs in these spaces.

Employer angle

From an employer perspective, internships create value for our business as well as for the individual. At Shared Intelligence, we are committed to identifying and creating opportunities for talented young people, not simply because it delivers social value, but because fresh perspectives strengthen our work.

There is also an important connection to the work we do with clients. Much of our research and consultancy focuses on employment, skills, inclusion and creating pathways into good work. Offering internships ourselves gives us direct experience of the opportunities and challenges involved, helping us speak with credibility when advising others. Our experience with Emma reinforced that internships are not simply an investment in future talent; they can deliver immediate value to organisations while helping to build a more inclusive labour market.

“Emma made a significant contribution during her time with us, undertaking high-quality research on the latest Local Government Reorganisation and devolution announcements, helping the team understand the evolving social, economic and geographical context in which our clients operate. We were equally impressed by Emma’s curiosity, fresh thinking and willingness to challenge assumptions. Her contribution demonstrates how internships can support both individual development and business success.” Lisa McCance, company director.

If you would like to learn more about the NTFL project or our work to support people into employment, please contact Imogen.stanley@sharedintelligence.net.