When thinking about summer work experience, your first thought might be an internship over the summer. Employers use summer internship schemes as a recruitment pipeline for their graduate jobs. Formal internships can be lacking in some sectors and career paths. They can also often be very competitive and have strict requirements. They want students toward the end of their degree who can enter into a graduate job in the next year. Therefore, many organised internship schemes are only open to later-year groups - traditionally just students in their penultimate year of study. This can limit your options, particularly if you are in your first year or are interested in a career path where organised internships are uncommon. Maybe you have applied to some internship schemes and haven't been successful yet. Or maybe you have summer commitments that mean a formal internships isn't feasible.
Don't panic - summer internships are not the only way to get work experience.