FAQs

All internships offered through the programmes are a minimum of 6 weeks.

The majority of candidates applying to the programmes are current university students. Our timelines for training, recruitment, and internship placements reflect the university academic calendar that starts in September and provides a break during the summer.

All internships should be UK-based. However, interns can partake in international travel that may be required as part of their role as long as the internship is based in the UK.

For programme queries, please email [email protected] and [email protected] for the Account Manager for the 10,000 Black Interns and 10,000 Able Interns programmes respectively.

Yes, organisations are encouraged to pledge for both programmes, as they operate on the same allocation and recruitment timelines.

Yes, organisations can apply to either programme according to their discretion and availability of internship roles.

Participating organisations are required to pay interns a salary that is at minimum the local living wage of the internship’s location for the duration of the internship. Organisations may choose to provide additional support such as accommodation and transportation at their own discretion and expense.

There is no fee to join either the 10,000 Black Interns or 10,000 Able Interns programmes. The only fees associated with the programmes are the interns’ salaries that should be at minimum the local living wage of where the internship is located.

You do not need to make a donation or become a Corporate Member to participate in the programmes. However, as a charity, the 10,000 Interns Foundation relies on support from participating organisations, charitable funds, and partners to keep the programmes free for underrepresented students and graduates.

The programmes run in cycles that start in September and end in March the followingyear. For the current 2023/24 cycle, key programme dates are:

• 20 October 2023 – Deadline to submit Pledge Form
• 13 November 2023 – Allocation: Organisations receive candidates
• 13 November – 17 November 2023 – Slate adjustment period
• 20 November – 24 November 2023 – Deadline to make first contact with candidates
• 31 March 2024 – Deadline to complete all hires

Primary contacts will be the primary point of contact for all programme-related communications and announcements. The secondary contact should be a member of the organisation who is senior to the primary contact and will only be contacted if the primary contact is unreachable or unresponsive.

You are not required to sponsor a visa for your interns. You will be able to indicate whether you would like to sponsor a visa or not in the relevant section of your Pledge Form.

Unfortunately, you cannot make changes to your official pledge number after the 20th October deadline. However, as your pledge number is a minimum number of internships you commit to hire, you are welcome to hire more interns from your existing slates and request more candidates to review.

If you wish to offer additional internships in a different workstream and location than your existing slates, please email [email protected] or [email protected].

Candidates are allocated to organisations based on their chosen workstreams and cannot choose specific organisations they would like to be allocated to within those workstreams. 

If a candidate in the programmes reaches out to you directly but is not in any of your slates, please advise them to apply for a job/internship with your organisation directly. 

Through our programme, the candidate would already have three organisations that are reviewing their application. To ensure that every candidate receives equal opportunity, please review only those who have been allocated to your slates and request more candidates to review should you need more.

The Slate Adjustment Period is the week in which you can submit requests to add additional candidates to your slate and release select candidates back to the larger candidate pool. Releasing requests will only be accepted for exceptional circumstances and will only apply to a small number of participating organisations.  

This cycle, the Slate Adjustment Period is from Monday, 8th November – Friday, 17th November 2023.

“Releasing” candidates is taking out candidates from your slate so that they can be allocated to another organisation in the same workstream. Releasing requests are only granted for exceptional cases where a candidate cannot be considered at all due to non-negotiable requirements of your internship. 

Release requests can be made based on the location of internship, candidate’s year of study, and level of education (undergraduate/postgraduate). To submit a release request, you are required to select one of the three factors and elaborate on the reasons for release. If the request is accepted, released candidates will not be informed that they have been released and will be redistributed to another organisation that can consider them.

You can request to add additional candidates to your slate by clicking on the “Request Additional Candidates” button on your Pinpoint dashboard and indicating the number of candidates you would like to receive.

The deadline to submit all slate adjustment requests is 17th November 2023.

Slate adjustment requests will be processed on a first-come-first serve basis during the Slate Adjustment Period. Depending on the volume of requests we receive, slate adjustments will be reflected on your Pinpoint dashboard between 8th November – 20th November.

Yes, slate adjustments are an optional feature to allow for any last-minute changes on the number of candidates you wish to review. If you would like to proceed without making any changes, you can start making contact with your candidates from 20th November.

If you do not make any adjustments to your slates, you can start reviewing your candidates and make first contact with them on 20th November.

Aside from the candidates’ selected workstream, location, visa requirements, we do not filter candidates you receive on your slates. Reflecting the purpose and value of the programmes, you will receive a diverse mixture of candidates from our pool. We recommend you to consider flexibility in your recruitment approach and focus on assessing candidates’ potential and trajectory. 

For any issues during the allocation, recruitment, and onboarding period, please contact [email protected] and [email protected] for the Account Manager for the 10,000 Black Interns and 10,000 Able Interns programmes respectively. 

We require all participating organisations to meet their pledge number. If your organisation is facing exceptional circumstances where normal business operations are halted or interrupted, please inform your programme’s Account Manager ([email protected], [email protected]) as soon as possible.

The candidates’ disclosed disabilities can be found in their application, which is available for you to view on your Pinpoint slate. This information is only viewable for applicants of the 10,000 Able Interns Programme.

You can access the email address and phone numbers of your candidates on your Pinpoint dashboard. We recommend you to use email as your primary mode of communication and reach out to your candidates directly.

We do not have written templates but recommend that you include the following information on your first email to your candidates:

• Your organisation’s name
• Internship role’s name and description
• Internship role’s team/department
• Contact details of hiring managers.
• General timeline of recruitment process
• Ask for reasonable adjustments candidates need (10,000 Able Interns)
• Job Description (optional)

You need to contact your candidates directly for all specifications on your internship roles. In your email, you may attach your job description document for the internship role.

Yes, you are welcome to use your own application tracking system to manage your candidates. However, please do not request candidates to submit an additional application to the one they have already submitted for the 10,000 Black Interns and/or Able Interns programmes.

Even if you use your own application tracking system, you are required to update the candidates’ individual stages in the recruitment process on Pinpoint.

Please use the drop-down menu next to the candidates’ names on your slates to select their recruitment status. The drop-down options include “Reviewed”, “Interview”, “Offered”, “Hired”, and “Rejected”. If you select “Rejected”, the candidate will receive an automatic email notifying them of their status from Pinpoint.

We support our candidates at every stage of the process through regular newsletters, training sessions, and dedicated email responses. We continue to stay in touch with interns after their internship placements to support and develop our programme alumni network.

If your candidates face any issues or concerns, please direct them to email [email protected] or [email protected].

Yes, we encourage organisations to offer full-time jobs to interns after their internships are completed through 10KIF programmes.