Name of Student:  Savannah Knatchbull

Degree Subject: BA English

Type of Internship:  Green Consultants Scheme

Company Name: Cosmic

Job Title: Green Consultant

Description Of Company: Cosmic provide an innovative range of services and support to help people identify their Digital need and to progress with their ambitions. Cosmic is a social enterprise offering digital skills training and services to a wide range of organisations, communities and individuals.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My key duties and responsibilities were making sure to complete the set of tasks given to me by Cosmic and research into how their digital practices and behaviours effect the environment. This included looking at if their hosting provider was actually green or just green washing, calculating how much carbon is produced by sending and email, and then putting all of my findings into the context of Cosmic’s daily business practices.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

As a result of this research I created a master document with all of my research, including how I got to my conclusions and the sources I used. I then made a table with all of the key figures that I calculated during my internship so that they stood out and were easy to compare to one another. Finally, I created some infographics and posters containing the most important figures and facts that I found during my research that could then be distributed to the other members of staff within the company so that they could begin to reduce their digital footprints.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I think the biggest achievement of my internship was being praised for taking the initiative to produce a usable output, such as the infographics, which could then be used by Cosmic to start putting my research into practice much faster.

What did not go so well on your internship? How did you overcome any challenges?

It was a shame not to go into an office environment which is hard during corona virus. This could have meant that self motivating was extremely important as I mostly had independent work which meant I had to remain on track with my progress and research which I think I did well and was able to develop.

Skills Learnt: 

• Ability to Work Under Pressure
• Organisation
• Decision Making
• Researching
• Time and Work Load Management

Attributes Developed:

• Initiative
• Perseverance
• Professionalism
• Confidence
• Motivation

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

“For other students wanting to explore a similar job role, organisation or sector I would say that this kind of experience made me realise there’s so many different aspects of the sustainability sector which pretty much anyone could find an interest in. This internship felt particularly rewarding for me as I felt like I was doing something I’m passionate about while also doing work that could genuinely help the environment down the line if my research was implemented into Cosmic’s digital practices. And for that feeling alone I feel like exploring a job or this sector is great for anyone interested in the environment and sustainability.”