Category Archives: Human Resources, Recruitment and Training

Global Employability Support Assistant – Employment Services, University of Exeter

Administration, Advertising, Marketing and PR, Archaeology and Anthropology, Graduate Business Partnership (GBP), Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Philosophy, Sociology and Criminology,

globe-indonesia-equator-80467

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Helping to run the Erasmus+ work abroad scheme by creating Internship Forms and making sure they are signed off in good time, giving students advice about how to find placements all around the world and dealing with queries and issues from both employers and students while on placement. Working within a very small team, I shared the responsibility of over 250 student placements with my manager. As well as this I held student one-to-one’s once a week to give advice about finding work abroad and organised any global events on campus, including employer presentations and small fairs.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My GBP role has allowed me to gain a confidence within a graduate role, that I did not have when I first finished University. As well as this, by working within a small team I have been able to streamline our internal work abroad paperwork processes to make sure that we can better keep on top of each student’s current situation. I have had just the right amount of freedom and direction to really improve my employability, which was the ultimate goal of my internship.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I believe that my internship enabled my team to improve some of our processes and resources, such as our ELE page and online webpages. I believe that my administration role helped lighten the workload of my manager and enabled them to work on projects we may not have previously had the time to undertake. By organising all of the employer and internal events for the Global Showcase for example, meant that my manager could concentrate on the marketing and advertising of the event in more detail.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

Quite often I had to work independently, which to begin with was a challenge but in hindsight really helped me to get to grips with my role as I was forced to learn the huge amount of knowledge needed quickly. Another difficulty within this role is that almost daily I encounter queries that I had never come across before. A good knowledge of what other teams within the University did, and of what reliable online resources there were available meant that I learnt to think on my feet and find answers to these problems quickly.

Career Zone Website Intern – University of Exeter

History, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Information Technology, Student Campus Partnership (SCP),

website

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Working with T4 Site Manager software to update and refine the Career Zone section of the website. I created graphics, logos, new content and a range of other videos to help make the site more appealing to students.

I was also tasked with updating various documents associated with the website, to ensure it remains up-to-date and looked after.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement was being able to learn T4 and use it effectively.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

My employer now has a new section of the website they can bring live, with a range of new content that I have created for them.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I mainly struggled with T4, but was able to innovate and figure out solutions through the process of trying and failing.

Career Mentor Scheme Administrator – University of Exeter

Administration, Business and Management, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Information Technology, Student Campus Partnership (SCP),

control-work-official-form-39519

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

-Communicating with mentors and mentees to ensure the scheme was running smoothly.
-Introducing mentors/mentees.
-Organising spreadsheets fir future schemes.
-Compiling feedback for the scheme.
-Sending out certificates.
-Helping with the career mentor event.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I learnt how to communicate effectively with a range of individuals and increased my organisational skills.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

It lightened the workload of my line manager and enabled them to focus on persuading mentors to join the scheme.

Global Employability Assistant – University of Exeter

Administration, Classics and Ancient History, Employer Feedback, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Student Campus Partnership (SCP),

desk

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

The main objective of my role was to provide administrative support to the Employment Services Teams in the Career Zone (Global & UK). My main responsibility was to upload  vacancies on to CareerHub, and so this required acquiring all the necessary information from the employers beforehand, and formatting vacancy advertisements so that they were accessible to students looking to apply. For this reason, I had to liaise with employers via email about the positions they were offering, and create an online vacancy based on the information provided. I also carried out some ad hoc work, such as flyering for our careers fairs and inputting data about our employer contacts.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I have learnt a considerable amount about the application process for graduate schemes by being ‘behind the scenes’; uploading vacancies on a day-to-day basis has highlighted to me what it is that employers are looking for, and how to succeed in filling out tricky application forms. Also, I am a lot more familiar with Microsoft Office, for instance I dreaded using Excel before and avoided it at all costs, but now I have been shown how to use it correctly and efficiently, I will certainly be using it more in the workplace.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

A lot of my work for the CareerZone required autonomy, especially because I was split between two departments (Global & UK Vacancies), so I would say that I helped my colleagues most by working efficiently and getting tasks done swiftly. One of the tasks I worked on was uploading a number of Studentships to CareerHub, and I composed a spread sheet to keep a log of what ones had been uploaded/deleted, which others can use as a reference. Also, I helped out the careers fairs by flyering around the university; I was therefore more than happy to carry out additional tasks besides my main responsibility of uploading vacancies.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

Sometimes in quieter periods there would be a shortage in vacancies, which, as a main part of my job role, meant I had little to do. I overcame this by asking around the office for ad hoc tasks and helped out wherever I could. It was never a major problem as someone always had a task for me to do.

“Paige has provided essential support during her time with me, and has been a pleasure to have in the office” – Line Manager

eXepert Administrator – University of Exeter Employment Services

Accounting and Finance, Administration, Hospitality and Event Management, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Student Campus Partnership (SCP),

man-people-space-desk

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My main roles and responsibilities during the course of the internship were very much administratively based. My fundamental responsibility was to provide administrative support for a scheme which offers students and recent graduates the opportunity to contact alumni for careers advice, although I was also encouraged to widen the scheme and ensure that it was constantly improving. In my second year of the internship, I widened my responsibilities further to help more with the Career Mentoring Scheme and did some admin and event organisation within this.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

The biggest achievement over the course of my internship was helping to plan and coordinate the first ‘meet your mentor’ event. I had never undertaken a project like this before and it was a really exciting new challenge. Coordinating the different aspects of the event and ensuring everything ran smoothly ensured I learnt lots very quickly, and I would definitely like to pursue something similar to this in my future career.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I ran a scheme called eXepert, which matched students and alumni up in short term mentoring relationships. I worked solely on this scheme supporting students from the application stage to the feedback stage. The benefit this had to my employer was an increased awareness of careers advice for students, as well as maintaining important relationships with alumni.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

No problems! I always felt really well supported throughout the internship. The biggest challenge I encountered was my line manager leaving just a few weeks into my role and therefore not having someone there to ask questions to as I was settling into the role. The wider team were really supportive, however, and I was able to settle into the role through the use of intuition and resources supplied by my predecessor.

Employment Services Administration Assistant

Administration, Employer Feedback, English, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Student Campus Partnership (SCP)

employment

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I supported the Central Employment Services Team in the daily delivery of their student services. I also administrated the feedback process for University of Exeter Managed Internship Schemes. In addition I provided ad-hoc support for fairs and events throughout the year, as well as ad-hoc office support

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Having the chance to provide Line Manager with an evaluative presentation on the administrative process I had been working on all year, in order to present an analysis of the system and also to suggest ways to optimise the efficiency of it

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I provided my employer with additional administrative support during busy periods.

“It was great having Peter on the team.  He was able to provide us with a student perspective on our scheme, help us be more efficient and also assisted up with streamlining some of our processes. He was hard working and fast at what he was asked to do and always willing to take on the work” – Line Manager.

Access to Internships Co-ordinator – University of Exeter, Employment Services

Administration, Advertising, Marketing and PR, Geography, Graduate Business Partnership (GBP), Human Resources, Recruitment and Training,

business-money-pink-coins

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

Coordinating the A2I scheme:
*Managed the Access to Internships email
*Managed the student and graduate sign up to the scheme, saved applications and highlighted any issues.
*Used My Career Zone to make appropriate changes to the sign up form.
*Managed the A2I email list and sent out fortnightly e-newsletters.
*Prepared A2I Agreements and Appendices for the employer/student/ chased returns where necessary.
*Updated the spreadsheets, recorded accurate and up to date information
*Took part in the weekly Internship catch up meetings.
*Got involved in creative marketing/PR
*Assisted with arrangements for Access to Internships events – ensuring that they were advertised on My Career Zone,
made appropriate room bookings, promoted them across campus and assisted with the preparation of the paperwork.
*Sent out follow up emails to students/graduates and employers to check the progress of the internship.
*Dealt with setting employers up on the finance system, raising purchase orders and payment of invoices and kept
accurate records of the finance activity.
*Arranged grant payments to students and recorded payments grants accurately.
*Obtained feedback from employers and students/graduates
*Contributed to the evaluation of scheme
*As appropriate updated the A2I procedures.
*Assisted colleagues in the team with other activities, particularly at times of peak demand
*Worked together in a mutually supportive way and worked towards shared goals

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I feel I accomplished many things as my time as GBP – for example greatly exceeding targets set, both in the form of sign ups and financially. I also began to overcome a fear of public speaking and of advising students about potential careers.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I administrated around £237,000 which consequently helped around 218 students with funding. I also often covered and assisted the internship team, especially when a member of the team was absent or when their workload became extra demanding. Similarly, I often assisted the wider team and as a result have gained valuable experience of event organisation. For example I have helped to run events such as the Career Mentor scheme’s ‘Meet Your Mentor’ events, Careers in the South West event and recruitment fairs.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

Many challenges arose when thinking about how to specifically market to students who meet the Widening Participation criteria. This was very important to overcome as the WP funding was one of the largest pots of funding I was tasked with spending/allocating; over £150,000. This was difficult due to the sensitive nature of the criteria and the fact that I had no means to be able to identify them as a mass. One of the ways I overcame this was by assembling as many data reports as possible in order to be able to identify and target larger numbers of WP students.

Employment Services Administration Assistant – University of Exeter

Administration, Employer Feedback, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Politics and International Relations,

forum18

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

For the majority of my internship, I worked on preparations for the various careers fairs run by the team. This involved lots of administration tasks and paying attention to detail was paramount. I also worked at the fairs themselves, making sure they went smoothly and that nothing was overlooked. Alongside my work on the fairs, I also worked with the internships team, uploading vacancies and dealing with financials. Here, I had to prepare invoices and update spreadsheets with care to make sure employees were paid the correct amounts.

Towards the end of my internship, when the fairs were over, I began a project called the Internships Index. During this project I aggregated over 140 case studies from students who took part in University managed paid internships and uploaded them all onto a website for students and graduates.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I am very proud of the Internship Index project I worked on. I took it on from another member of the team who left very early on in its conception. Therefore, I was able to make it my own and ultimately decide on its direction. While I will not be here for its official launch in September, I have prepared much of the launch plan and marketing actions and will be pleased to see it being used!

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

My work on the fairs allowed others on the team liaise with employers and focus on generating revenue for the team. Event organisations requires a lot of admin tasks that are time consuming but need doing. I was able to fulfil this role.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

Working on the financial side of things was a bit tricky at first, as I had not worked on balance spreadsheets before but the more I did them the easier it became!

“It was great having Sophia on the team, she was a real asset and was extremely flexible in terms of taking on dfifferent projects and working extra hours, when needed. She was efficient, reliable and hardworking and provided great support in enabling us to run our fairs and events smoothly.” – Employment Services Operations Officer

University of Exeter Internship Schemes, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

Careers Administrator and Project Coordinator – University of Exeter

Administration, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Law,

Universtiy of Exeter - Penyrn Campus Career Zone, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I created weekly attendance and feedback reports, and sent weekly feedback requests to students who had attended events run by the Careers Consultants. I was responsible for managing the list of events being run by the Careers Consultants each term, scheduling the sessions, booking rooms and uploading the events to Career Hub. I updated webpages managed by the Career Consultants providing information on graduate destinations and other useful resources for students. I also undertook a marketing role, create a variety of materials including webpage banners, slides for the digital screens around campus and leaflets which are now available from the Career Zone front desk and are being distributed in the accommodation welcome packs in Penryn.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I was proud to win a Highly Commended award at the Student Employee of the Year Awards in the ‘Above and Beyond’ category. I improved my IT skills, both regarding spreadsheets and creating marketing materials, as well as boosting my confidence in the workplace.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I removed the day-to-day administrative burden on the team by carrying out a variety of tasks which they would have otherwise had to do, including analysing attendance and feedback data and managing webpages and events.

Equality and Diversity Project Officer for Athena SWAN – CEMPS and CLES, University of Exeter

Biosciences, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training,

ATHENA Swan, UoE Internships, University of Exeter Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

During my internship I supported the Human Resources departments of the College of Life and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering, Maths and Physical Sciences in their work towards Athena SWAN Awards. Athena SWAN is a charter aiming to improve the recruitment, retention and promotion of women in science. I worked closely with the nine disciplines working towards Silver Athena SWAN Awards. The role included running focus groups, supporting and contributing to 12 working groups at discipline, college and university levels and supporting the improvement of policies and practices within the Colleges.

I really enjoyed my time at Exeter and gained valuable experience. My line manager was extremely supportive and was always finding opportunities for me to develop my skills and to take part in networking and training events. I enjoyed the different aspects of my role; including working at University level in HR and supporting the University Working group, but also working with staff in CEMPS and CLES and seeing the way policies and practices are implemented and experienced and the impact of Athena SWAN at a cultural level.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My role enabled me to develop my knowledge and work experience in Equality and Diversity and go on to my new role working on Athena SWAN at UCL.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Gaining Athena SWAN Awards is one of the key University objectives so my work was highly valued and appreciated.

harrietjones2