We spoke to the co-founder of a Durham Venture Lab Project

Despite rapid recent changes to the job market, the application process for careers, internships, and work experiences is becoming worse. If you’ve applied to internships or placement years you’ll be aware of this. Both short- and long-term opportunities are in higher demand than ever. As a result, AI-driven selections, automatic screenings and psychometric testing have become the norm. Applications reviewed by actual humans, especially in early stages, are becoming rarer all the time.

Ventureship, a Durham Venture Labs project, is looking to improve this situation. An individual ‘Ventureship’ is a remote, flexible, paid project-based internship that enables students to demonstrate skills and talent through work, as well as gaining experience. With a wide range of job sectors, including remote work with professional organisations, Ventureships can run alongside your degree.

To find out more about this mission and the story of its creation, we spoke to Ventureship co-founder Rachel Tong Ng.

Rachel and co-founder Victoria Perronet Miller decided to work on this project after receiving 118 rejections between them. “We saw how talented students were being filtered out by automated screening systems and we wanted to change this”. Through TikTok and Instagram, Rachel has heard similar stories from many other students.

‘Students want real experience, but businesses want proof of ability’

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After conducting over 100 interview with students, businesses and career centres, a clear issue emerged: “Students want real experience, but businesses want proof of ability”. The founders believe the solution is Ventureship: “Instead of traditional internships, we partner with companies and break down real business challenges into structured, short-term remote projects (usually 3-6 weeks).”

Depending on the Ventureship, students might work individually or in small teams – but they’ll be supervised throughout. At the end of the process, students will have gained experience, portfolio evidence beyond a CV, and an opportunity to prove themselves. Businesses provide flexible, project-based support, lower cost than traditional internships and access to motivated student talent.

Rachel and Victoria have now raised £10,000 through Durham Venture School. This will go towards tackling the “experience gap” – “a paradox where students need experience to get experience.” They’ve progressed towards collaborating with companies such as TEDx. The first official Ventureship launched in January, and while applications have closed for this specific opportunity, we look forward to seeing future Ventureships become available throughout the year and beyond.

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