£12.71 per hour + £1.53 holiday pay
Advertising End Date
22 Apr 2026

Role & Department Overview

Eligibility

This micro internship is for 30 hours in total (including 4 hours for training) and is aimed at students who have limited professional prior work experience and are looking for an opportunity that supports them to develop their employability skills.

To apply for this micro internship, students must be part of GROW Your Future.

GROW Your Future is an opt-in scheme for UK undergraduates and postgraduate taught students who also meet specific Widening Participation criteria, e.g. students who are:

  • first in their family to go to university;
  • in receipt of a Lancaster Bursary;
  • received free school meals
  • over 21 when they start their first undergraduate degree;
  • Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic;
  • disabled (including learning disabilities, physical or mental health conditions);
  • care leavers or have caring responsibilities, or estranged from family
  • a refugee or asylum seeker, from a gypsy or Traveller community, or from a military family

For more information and to sign up see the following link: GROW Your Future | ASK - Lancaster University

As stated above, the GROW Your Future Micro Internship Scheme aims to support students with limited professional work experience, therefore priority will be given to students who meet this criteria. This includes students who may have already completed a GYF micro internship.

Role Overview 
 

Company Projects have evolved in different areas of the university in many ways. In overview, projects are embedded into degrees to give students practical, hands-on experience of putting their theoretical knowledge into practice. Students work with a client, a local, national, or international company which is experiencing a real-world challenge and / or would benefit from some research.

In the Management School, students work in small teams in a consultancy format to offer strategic insight and recommendations on topics relevant to the Management School, e.g., Market Research, HR, Project Management, etc. We embed consultancy projects of varying lengths and levels, i.e., from second year undergraduate through to MBA level.

In the four faculties at Lancaster University, this provision is delivered in different formats, e.g., individual versus group and multi-group projects, practical tasks versus strategic recommendations, level of involvement of academic supervisors and mentors, etc.

This internship is based in the LUMS Careers Service working alongside the LUMS Company Projects Managers. You will be performing a critical task which will enable us to evaluate the offerings around the university, identify areas of best practice, and recommend efficiencies.

You will conduct an audit (via semi-structured interviews and desk-based research) to establish the existing picture, including processes, paperwork, and administration, and conclude with your interim findings by delivering a presentation. This is a large undertaking, so please be assured you are not expected to be able to complete this whole project.

If time is available, we have also arranged engagement with another university which has agreed to be involved in this research. You will also complete desk-based research into the Higher Education sector to understand alternative approaches.
 
Start Date: 6 May 2026
End Date:
17 June 2026
Interview Date:
29 April 2026
Working Pattern:
5 hours/week over 6 weeks
Location:
 Remotely (in the UK) and on the Lancaster University campus

Job Description

  • Follow a brief set by the Company Projects team (and use relevant informal training delivered by the team) to conduct primary research: design, undertake, and evaluate findings from interviews with internal stakeholders
  • Host effective meetings with relevant staff to gather information on typical timelines, processes, and paperwork, identify pros and cons of different approaches
  • Conduct benchmarking and comparator analysis in the HE sector (secondary research) - compile notes and observations and offer insights
  • Analyse findings and present these to the team with recommendations for streamlining - themes could include: similarities / differences in paperwork, processes, student group sizes, timing, common types of clients and projects, how repeat business is managed

Skills you’ll gain evidence of for your CV:

  • Primary and secondary research
  • Listening and summarising
  • Effective meeting / interview design and management
  • Effective questioning
  • Business etiquette
  • Time management
  • Networking
  • Presentation skills

Person Specification

No specific prior experience required, but the following is essential: 

  • Written and verbal communication skills, including active listening
  • Time management
  • A member of GROW Your Future 
Additional desirable skills: 
 
  • Research questioning and data collection
  • Presentation skills 
  • Stakeholder engagement

As this internship is aimed at students who do not have prior professional work experience, please draw upon examples from extra curricular activities, hobbies, interests, volunteering and part time work in your CV and cover letter

Please also outline in your CV and cover letter why you believe this micro internship will benefit you and your career progression.

Working in this role will help develop the following skills and experience:
 
  • Analysing
  • Business Development
  • Collaboration
  • Exercising professional judgement
  • Integrity
  • Interpersonal sensitivity
  • Knowledge Sharing
  • Organisation
  • Planning and organising
  • Research
  • Self-motivation
  • Teamwork
  • Time Management
  • Verbal communication
  • Written communication
Any informal enquiries regarding this role can be directed to Shelley Morgan - [email protected].
 
 
 
 
 
 
 You are required to submit a cover letter to support your application. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
 
 Please note: Unless specified otherwise in the advert wording, this role is only open to individuals living in the UK.
 
 Under the terms of this work, we endeavour to provide the advertised number of hours however, hours are not guaranteed and that work may cease if there is a fall in demand. 
 
 Adverts that display a closing date should be treated as a guide. We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so we advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.

Help and advice on making applications can be found on the Lancaster University Careers pages. Visit www.lancaster.ac.uk/careers.