Read about what our last interns did and what they gained from the position..Helen McCarron
I started this internship for a few reasons, firstly I thought it would give me more career options. Secondly I thought it sounded interesting and thirdly and most honestly I was struggling to get any where within the arts industry.
I started this internship for a few reasons, firstly I thought it would give me more career options. Secondly I thought it sounded interesting and thirdly and most honestly I was struggling to get any where within the arts industry.
So I began this internship not really knowing what to expect. When I saw the advert I thought they would be looking for a business studies student or someone who wanted to be a careers adviser, but I took what I thought was a risk at the time and applied. I felt I could bring the skills developed from my Fine Art course to the role as I enjoyed running events and working with fellow peers through one to one critical reviews. This experience developed through my degree became invaluable within this internship.
As we were the first interns the careers team had, this did have its disadvantages as we didn’t have clear project however this actually turned out to be an advantage as we were allowed much more independence to be creative and develop our own projects tailored to our own interests and future career aims. While we still had the DHLE survey alongside this work I found that I learnt skills from this that would prove extremely beneficial in future applications. This demonstrated skills in collecting and recording data, writing reports, administration and IT skills.
My particular role involved the project management of Career’s Wednesdays, the careers on campus stands and the end of year BBQ. I also took a specific focus on art and design careers information and advice. Within Career Wednesday I was responsible for contacting and booking weekly employers. This role also involved marketing the events to the correct students and ensuring room requirements were met. Employers/ Career days included a law CV workshop, Zenithoptimedia and an Army Day.
This internship is by far the position I talk about the most in applications and interviews. It has also opened up lots of possibly career ideas which I hadn’t previously considered.
I applied for the position of Graduate Careers Intern because I felt that I could relate to the purpose of the job, having encountered difficulties in finding graduate employment myself.
Over the course of my internship I have developed a wide range of new skills such as event management, marketing and negotiation.
We have all been given the responsibility of developing our own individual projects. I chose to organise a Final Year Event called ‘Cakes & Careers’ to engage students with the Careers Service and promote the services that we offer.
I have gained a lot more confidence in myself as a result and it is satisfying when a project you have been responsible for is a success.
I also liaised with local law firms to generate legal placements for the current law students.
When I first saw the job advert for this position I realised that I hadn’t made great use of the careers service myself and started to think about why that was and what could be done to make students more aware of the service.
As a result, a lot of my work has been focused on raising student awareness through the service’s website and other online presence (Twitter, Facebook, this blog etc). Being the first interns in the department meant that we were able to develop our roles in a way that suited us, focusing on areas we are personally interested in.
One of the main lessons I’ve learnt from my position as a Careers Intern is that although you might not be able to land your dream job as soon as you graduate, you may be able to find relevant experience in some unlikely areas. When I go for job interviews in PR/marketing etc, I always have a lot of relevant experience to talk about that impresses potential employers.