Employ.ed in a SME

Bring fresh ideas, skills and perspectives into your organisation by recruiting a University of Edinburgh student or graduate through Employ.ed in a SME. Our Careers Team will support you throughout the recruitment process, from developing your internship idea to finding the right candidate.

What is Employ.ed in a SME?

Employ.ed in a SME supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to recruit a paid intern from the University of Edinburgh. 

Hosting an intern is a great way to bring fresh ideas, new skills and different perspectives into your organisation, while giving a student or recent graduate the opportunity to develop valuable professional experience. 

Your internship should provide meaningful work and a clear opportunity for the intern to develop their skills and employability. You might have one substantial project you would like an intern to take ownership of, or you could create an internship involving several projects or areas of work. 

You do not need to have everything planned before getting in touch. The Careers Team can help you develop your initial ideas into a suitable internship. 

Who can take part?

Employ.ed in a SME is open to organisations that: 

  • have fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover of less than £50 million 
  • are a UK-registered company, sole trader or partnership 
  • can offer meaningful work experience that will help a student or graduate develop their skills and employability 

Why host an intern?

An internship can give your organisation additional capacity to progress an important project or piece of work while bringing new skills and perspectives into your team. 

It is also an opportunity to: 

  • access talented University of Edinburgh students and graduates 
  • bring fresh thinking and new perspectives into your organisation 
  • progress a project or area of work that would benefit from dedicated resource 
  • introduce new skills and knowledge into your team 
  • identify and develop emerging talent 
  • give a student or graduate valuable professional experience 

How does it work?

The Careers Team will support you throughout the recruitment process. 

Contact employ.ed@ed.ac.uk to let us know that you are interested in recruiting an intern. 

We will arrange a conversation with you to explain the programme in more detail and discuss your ideas for the internship. 


We will work with you to develop your internship and help you create an effective job description and advert. 

Your internship could focus on one clearly defined project or include work across several areas of your organisation. The important thing is that the intern has meaningful work, clear objectives and opportunities to develop their skills. 

Before recruiting an intern, there are a few practical things to consider.

More guidance on planning your internship is available here: Planning Your Internship | Careers | Careers Service 


We will advertise your internship to University of Edinburgh students and graduates through MyCareerHub, our Careers, Skills and Student Development jobs portal. 

We can also promote your opportunity through targeted communications to students who may be a good fit for the role and on our social media accounts. 


Candidates apply for the internship and the Careers Team will collate the applications. 

We will carry out eligibility checks against the criteria in your job description before sharing eligible applications with you. 


You decide which candidates you would like to interview and manage the interview and selection process. 


The successful intern will be employed directly by your organisation. You will therefore be responsible for the employment arrangements associated with the internship. 


Once your intern starts, we will provide them with resources designed to help them make the most of their internship and reflect on the skills and experience they are developing. 


Before you recruit

Employ.ed in a SME internships are not funded by the University. Your organisation is responsible for employing and paying the intern for all hours worked. 

Interns should be paid above the applicable Living Wage and must receive at least the legal minimum wage for their age. 

Check the current National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates on GOV.UK. 


Through Employ.ed in a SME, you can recruit: 

  • undergraduate students 
  • postgraduate taught students 
  • University of Edinburgh graduates 

We can help you consider which student or graduate audience would be most appropriate for your internship when developing your role. 

Looking to recruit a PhD student? 

If you would like to recruit a postgraduate researcher, our Employ.ed for PhDs programme is designed specifically for this. 

Employ.ed for PhDs connects organisations with postgraduate researchers who can bring advanced research, analysis and technical problem-solving skills to a project. 

These paid, part-time internships are designed to fit around students' research commitments while enabling them to make a meaningful contribution to your organisation. 

Contact employ.ed@ed.ac.uk to find out more about Employ.ed for PhDs. 


We can support you to recruit an intern at any time of year. 

When planning the internship, you should consider students' academic commitments as well as the needs of your organisation. 

During semester, the University recommends that undergraduate and taught postgraduate students work no more than 15 hours per week alongside their studies, helping them to balance work, study and wellbeing. 

Students may be able to undertake an internship full-time during University vacation periods. 

University of Edinburgh Semester Dates 

Employing students with a Student visa 

Some international students have restrictions on the number of hours they can work. Employers are responsible for carrying out appropriate right to work checks and ensuring that working arrangements comply with any restrictions applying to the individual. 

Depending on their immigration permission and course, Student visa holders may be permitted to work: 

  • up to 20 hours per week during term time when studying a full-time course at degree level or above 
  • up to 10 hours per week during term time when studying an eligible full-time course below degree level 
  • full time outside term time where their immigration permission allows this 

Working permissions vary according to individual circumstances, so employers should check the conditions applying to their selected candidate. 

For current information, see the UK Government guidance on Student visas and working in the UK. 


Interested in taking part?

You do not need to have a fully developed internship or job description before contacting us. 

If you have an idea for a project, an area where you could use some additional expertise, or simply want to explore whether an intern could be right for your organisation, get in touch with the Careers Team at employ.ed@ed.ac.uk 

We will arrange a conversation to discuss your organisation, your ideas and how Employ.ed in a SME could work for you. 

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