Yes, all students are welcome to use the Workfinder service.
Workfinder actively supports widening participation by giving all students access to a wide network of hosts who can be approached to request industry experience.
Our algorithm simulates a virtual career advisor, using data and technology to serve the right opportunities to the students at the optimum time.
We can provide HEIs with detailed reporting on all student activities, including browsing and engaging with potential opportunities and subsequent work placements, applications and destinations.
Our remote industry experience offering can give students access to valuable industry experience at home.
Students are able to download our iOS app or use the web app to discover businesses and hosts in their local area and across the UK.
Students and HEIs: FREE - We strongly believe that opportunities should be open to all students, that is why Workfinder will always be free for our students to use.
Companies: £100 placement fee - A week, a summer, a year? Either way, it is a simple flat admin fee to the businesses we work with when they place a student. *Exclusive of VAT
Workfinder is an on-demand service, meaning students can access the platform at any point in time. We want to encourage students to engage with companies for industry experience at a time that is suitable for them.
The two-week project templates currently live in our platform lend themselves nicely to students studying the following and related disciplines:
The remote industry experience projects are designed to be a short and intensive two-week activity that will provide value to both sides.
The working hours for this would be decided between the host and the student - we recommend full-time hours for the full two week period.
Yes. They are able to filter by subjects, location, companies and interests.
The project templates will be finalised by the business, they will be industry-standard projects. The hosts are aware that undergraduates, postgraduates and recent graduates will be among those applying to work on the projects and any student may require additional support and guidance.
The project templates have been verified through multiple sources. These detailed templates are supplied to the business, including suggested timelines and detailed activities. The recommended activities are designed to be meaningful to both parties.
We can share a project template example with HEI representatives on request, please contact us via your work email on contact@workfinder.com and we will be happy to help.
There are already over 11,000 companies on the platform and over 30,000 hosts.
Collaboration is a key skill needed within industry, the projects will provide an excellent opportunity for students to work in partnership with others they have not met before. For the project briefs, we encourage the hosts to work with a team of 2-3 students, so they can separate the workload and utilise the skills and talents of the students appropriately, in turn, the students have others who they can rely on and will feel less pressure to be the only person delivering on the project.
The project is managed by the host and they will ultimately be the person who decides on the number of students, the mix of students and the delivery of the project. We recommend the ideal skill set mixture for each project, but the final decision is theirs. A detailed project brief template guides them on the best way to deliver the project, including how to manage the students, how they should engage as a team, how frequently they should get together etc but ultimately this is facilitated by the host.
We absolutely believe students should be paid for the work they do for a company. We strongly advocate that companies pay a living wage for all students and this is built into our platform.
Some projects will be paid, yes.
COVID-19 has unfortunately resulted in many employees across the country being furloughed or made redundant. From speaking with our business networks, we understand they are sometimes unable to justify paying industry experience students in the current climate.
Absolutely, they will receive details of the project, the company, the suggested activities and the expected outcomes before they decide to apply to be part of the remote team.
We realise paid vs unpaid placements is a topic that is close to everyone's hearts and top of your priority lists. Whilst we can't guarantee ratios of paid to unpaid projects on the platform we can guarantee that we do strongly advocate that the placements are paid. Our recommendation engine is designed to prioritise paid opportunities over unpaid.
Should you wish to discuss how Workfinder could be used to only push paid placements to all of your students, removing unpaid opportunities from their recommendations altogether we would be happy to discuss this with you. Please contact us on HEI-partnerships@workfinder.com and one of the team would be happy to help.
The very way that the platform is designed ensures that the students are fully supported through the whole process, it is designed with them in mind.
The host acts as the line manager for the students and is ultimately responsible for the successful delivery of the project for their business and the student’s experience.
We strongly focus on the support we provide the hosts. If we can ensure every host who uses Workfinder is fully equipped with the training and resources we provide, they, in turn, can directly support all students across the network.
We will be guiding our hosts to encourage students to keep to set working hours, take regular breaks and to use a good working environment i.e. using a desk and supportive seat, and if possible encouraging students to work in a space where they get natural light.
We use data feeds from Duedil and LinkedIn to verify the legitimacy of the host and the business. We determine if the company is active and if it is relevant to serve to students or not.
We have two-factor email authentication against the hosts work email.
Our terms and conditions for businesses we work with require hosts to have the correct insurances in place.
Ultimately the host is responsible for ensuring their paperwork is in place, but we support hosts with resources, templates and timely tips through an automated program. This is inclusive of pre-project guidance on safeguarding courses, employer liability insurance, H&S policies, risk assessments, templated contracts and agreements of working.
That is not our intention at this stage. Workfinder is a two-sided platform, it connects students to hosts, therefore students have direct access to hosts but HEIs do not.
We clearly request permission from the student to share their application data with their HEI. For the summer remote industry experience projects, this data will be shared with HEIs whom we are working with in a PDF format. If you are interested in receiving these insights and have not yet had a chat with our team please contact us on HEI-partnerships@workfinder.com and we will be happy to help.
From September we will be launching a dashboard for HEIs that details which hosts and companies we are matching to which student and the levels of engagement that those students are having with those opportunities.
There is a review and feedback feature in development, this will be built into the platform. In the meantime, both parties are encouraged to feedback to us through an online feedback form. Additionally, we have a direct online helpdesk for either party to report any issues or concerns.
If you would like to promote Workfinder to your students this summer and give them access to all of the remote summer industry projects that are available please contact us on HEI-partnerships@workfinder.com and one of the team would be happy to help.
We will provide you with an extensive launch pack you can use to digitally reach out to your students and make them aware of this campaign.
By working with us directly we will be able to provide you with data on your students’ activities through our platform.
By working with us directly we can help your students get the best start with Workfinder.
We will provide regular reporting and data for you. By working with us we can analyse your students’ behaviours through our platform and we can adjust the approach necessary for your students.
Post-launch with your students, we will continue to support you with messaging and resources for your students including handpicked projects of interest, driving the right opportunities to your students at all times.
Don’t forget! We don’t charge HEIs anything for this service!
The data and insights we can provide are extensive. Please contact us on HEI-partnerships@workfinder.com to find out more.
No, Workfinder will work independently of your processes and systems and will complement the service you already provide to your students.
We make all companies on our platform visible to all students and provide them with access to an engaged business network across the UK.
Workfinder is a network with rich profiles of appropriate hosts listed on company profiles. Our model is to recommend specific companies and hosts to students and encourage them to engage and create opportunities.
Our approach is ideal for startups and scale-ups who do not have a formal internship job listing programme but who would be delighted to hear from relevant students.
Traditional methods of promoting opportunities to students don’t capture the student when they are motivated and searching, email alerts might only be seen when they are not ‘in the zone’ and actively looking and applying. Workfinder is designed to push the right suggestions to the right students at the right time maximising the number of opportunities students take.
We enable your human resource to be used more effectively, being reactive to student applications and activity on our platform and alerting them to intervene at an appropriate time.
We support the students through the process of speculative applications and allow them to apply to many, quickly.
Our intelligent algorithm uses multiple data points to instantly match students to the most appropriate companies and hosts.
Workfinder is a platform, we match students with opportunities and provide guidance for both sides. We don’t list vacancies, but with a better understanding of your specific vacancy advertising policy, we can explore how we could tailor what your students are able to see.
Like many businesses, the team at Workfinder are now working remotely and continue to support both businesses and students to make meaningful connections.
We have launched a new programme to enable the flexibility that both candidates and employers need.
We offer remote work experience projects which are designed to be short and intensive two-week activity that will provide value to both sides. Our intelligent algorithm matches the best young people with their placement. We provide practical tips, guidance, and regular check-ins needed to keep the project on track and deliver value.