At a university like St Andrews, it is incredibly difficult not to constantly strive for greatness – or at least secretly strive to outdo your coursemates – and as the year ends, that manifests in one very specific anxiety: the internship.
Unpopular opinion: internships are nice, but not getting one isn’t the end of the world.
I am finishing my master’s degree without ever having had a summer internship, and I’m here to tell you life goes on. The internet loves to paint internships as the only path forward – the singular golden ticket to a successful career – and while that may be true for some, I think that’s largely a scare tactic. The hustle-culture corner of LinkedIn would have you believe that a summer spent doing anything other than “building your professional network” is a summer wasted. I just don’t buy it.
I get that it’s hard to escape the St Andrews bubble. When everyone around you seems to be jetting off to London for a finance placement or landing a prestigious research position, the pressure to keep up is real. But I’m here to gently suggest that you take a wee bit of a chill pill. And if you’re feeling the comparison trap creeping in, this piece on navigating career conversations in St Andrews is worth a read too.
So — if you, like me, didn’t land a summer internship — here are ten things you can do instead.
1, 2 & 3. Actually take a summer break.
I cannot stress this enough: rest is productive. Burnout is real, and the best way to avoid it is to actually stop. Embrace the 2026 buzzwords and seek out a whimsical, offline summer. Travel somewhere new. Read a book purely for the pleasure of it. Spend unhurried time with people you love.
Be selfish about this. There will always be another rung on the academic or career ladder to reach for. There will not always be a guilt-free summer in your early twenties to just be. Recharging your mind and body is not laziness – it is strategy.
4. Volunteer in town or back home.
Volunteering is genuinely one of the most underrated CV builders, and it also just feels good. If you’re staying in St Andrews over the summer, SVS St Andrews connects students with local volunteer opportunities across the community. If you’re heading home, look into what your local area needs – food banks, youth programs, environmental projects, and community gardens are almost always grateful for extra hands.
5. Take free online courses.
Did you know Harvard offers a catalog of free online courses? From computer science to public health to creative writing, there’s something genuinely interesting for every discipline. Learning something completely outside your degree can spark new ideas, new interests, and occasionally, new career directions.
6. Get a certification to put on your CV.
If you want something more tangibly career-focused, certifications are a brilliant use of time. LinkedIn Learning’s Microsoft Office courses are a solid starting point – Excel and PowerPoint proficiency come up in almost every job listing, regardless of field. Google also offers free certifications in digital marketing and data analytics. A few weeks of focused learning in June can translate directly into something concrete on your CV by September.
7. Work a seasonal job.
Waiting tables, working a festival, staffing a summer camp, picking up retail shifts – seasonal work gets a bad reputation in academic circles, but it genuinely develops soft skills that graduate employers actually care about: communication, resilience, problem-solving under pressure, and the ability to work as part of a team. It also fills your summer, pays you, and gives you real stories to tell in interviews.
8. Work on a personal passion project.
This one is my personal favorite. Submit that piece of writing you’ve been sitting on to a magazine. Turn the small business idea you’ve been daydreaming about into an actual business plan. Start the podcast, the newsletter, the Etsy shop, the short film. Passion projects show initiative, creativity, and genuine interest – qualities that stand out far more in an application than a generic internship sometimes does.
9. Start polishing your CV for autumn applications.
Many of the best graduate schemes and semester internships open applications in September and October. Use the summer to get ahead – update your CV, write a strong personal statement, research the companies or roles you’re actually excited about, and ask a careers advisor to review your materials before the rush begins. Getting organized now means you’re not scrambling come Freshers’ Week.
10. Some internships are still hiring.
And finally, it’s not too late. Internship recruitment is not a single window that closes in March. The University of St Andrews Careers Centre lists internship opportunities on a rolling basis, and many smaller organizations recruit throughout the summer. If you still want an internship, keep looking. It might still happen.
Whatever your summer looks like, resist the urge to measure its worth against someone else’s LinkedIn update. A summer spent resting, learning, creating, or simply living is not a summer wasted. It’s just a different kind of preparation – and sometimes, it’s exactly the kind you needed most.