Careers Information Assistant – Career Zone, University of Exeter

Emily Owen

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

My role was to provide front desk careers support for the Career Zone at St Luke’s Campus. Aside from this customer-facing role, I was also responsible for several projects within the Careers Service such as Finalist Fridays. My role also included providing admin support to the central team and help organising careers events. My role varied from those at Streatham Campus as it involved tailoring the careers service to the needs of St Luke’s students. This required a lot of collaboration with local departments and services.

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

I would say my biggest achievement has been leading a project and seeing it grow from an initial idea to an active part of our service.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I believe my internship lightened the workload for my colleagues as I was able to work on several key in-year targets, allowing my colleagues to work towards other key goals. I would like to think it has also helped our relationship with other departments as I have tried to strengthen the relationship between the central careers service and departmental employability leads.

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

One of the main problems was that there was a lack of awareness of our presence on St Luke’s so I had to devote a lot of time to promoting the service and advertising what we offer. We now see students come in for careers support and enquiries on a more regular basis. The other key problem was working remotely from my team but it just highlighted the importance of good communication and made me keep in regular contact. It also allowed me to work more closely with local teams and services for campus-specific support and guidance.