Category Archives: Administration

Social Innovation Consultants Intern – University of Exeter

Administration, Business and Management, Environmental Work, Geography, Geology, Graduate Business Partnership (GBP)

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

Approach and communicate with a variety of companies, via email, to secure student work experience placements for the Easter to summer period of the next academic year. Initial research of the company was needed to ensure they were suitable for Geography and Environmental Science Students and then an email was drafted and sent. I was responsible for any communications between the company and the university through answering questions, queries or any ideas they may have for the placements.

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

I created loads of new networking links and provided my fellow students with exciting work experience prospects that could lead onto further employment.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Completed a project that lightened the workload of other colleagues.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Persuasion, customer service, focus on goals and outcomes

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Perseverance, logical thinking, independence

Research Assistant and Project Analyst – CEMPS Renewables and Pure Energy Professionals

Administration, Education, Teaching and Research, Energy Engineering, Engineering, Manufacturing, Engineering and Processing, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources, Student Campus Partnership (SCP)

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

CEMPS: analysis of wave data for FaB Test and assisting with the annual environmental survey

PEP: identifying and presenting storage opportunities in Cornwall, doing an analysis of wind turbine assets managed by PEP and producing a report

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

Programming used to feel like one of my weaknesses and I can now say that I feel confident using Matlab in a more instinctive way.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

CEMPS: I analysed wave data to produce charts for potential developers, which would have been fairly time-consuming for the existing staff

PEP: the potential storage opportunities map is likely to be used in the next few weeks or months

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Enterprise, research, problem solving

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Motivation, personal awareness, work ethic

Social Researcher and Analyst – University of Exeter

Administration, Business and Management, Charity and Development Work, Education, Teaching and Research, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology and Criminology, Student Campus Partnership (SCP)

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

My main role was to undertake research into volunteer motivations and collect together information to be shared with the team at BWRP. This research would then inform my creating of a volunteer questionnaire which would digitally record the opinions of the volunteers about their experience at BWRP. I was then fully inducted as a volunteer at the project, to gain insight into the structure and possibility for future improvement for the induction. I then undertook a week as a volunteer whereby I undertook tasks such as going on timber collections and helping out in the yard.

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

My biggest achievement was meeting lots of new people in the sustainability field, and gaining lasting contacts and connections with them.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to complete a report on my findings, along with collecting a lot of feedback from volunteers about their experience. This has helped them to make improvements in the future.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Time and workload management, focus on goals and outcomes, research

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Confidence, logical thinking, independence

STEM Outreach Assistant (Female Role Models Scheme) – University of Exeter, Penryn

Administration, Charity and Development Work, Education, Teaching and Research, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology and Criminology, Student Campus Partnership (SCP)

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

I have been developing current lessons in the box and produce new lessons, and, planning, researching and developing a ‘Green Powered Doll House’ project for big scale events. This project is a brand new project for 2017/18 academic year. I was assisting the line manager at preparing lessons, finding materials and in general and providing a summary report regularly.

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

I have gotten a lot better in communication both verbally and through email. I have also strengthened my project management skills, organisation skills and subject related skills. One of the outcomes that I am most proud of is the launch of the ‘Green Powered Doll House’ at Royal Cornwall Show 2018.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

My line manager mentioned that I have made a big difference in what they can offer through the college in the creation of new and exciting resources which schools can slot easily into their curriculum. It has filled a gap that she didn’t have time to do to such a high quality herself which has really helped the team.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Leadership, organisation, decision making

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Perseverance, logical thinking, creative thinking

HR Intern – Welstand Contractors Ltd

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Biosciences, Business and Management, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Psychology

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

Payroll management, tax filings, VAT and VAT returns data base entries and maintenance, payslip distributions through emails and posts, communicate with clients and resolve any inquiries related to payroll

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

I learnt regulations related to employment in terms of hiring, tax computations and filing and VAT returns. Payroll management was very interesting and I was quick at learning to adapt to new changes in my workplace – a very new experience working abroad.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to learn quickly, the trainer felt comfortable to share his feedback openly and I was open to new learning which made it very easy for them to get work done from me in a short span of time.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Persuasion, ability to work under pressure, IT

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Logical thinking, creative thinking, professionalism

Equity Sales Intern – Redburn

Access to Internships (A2I), Accounting and Auditing, Accounting and Finance, Administration, Banking and Financial Services, Business and Management, Economics, Management and Consultancy

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

During my internship I shadowed a member of the equity sales team and supported them with their tasks. My tasks included: preparing materials for clients (including reports and presentations), making note of market news stories on a timely basis, researching companies and building a relationship with the research team, and, creating a network with employees and other interns. Over the internship I also carried out a research project.

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

My biggest achievement was adding value directly to clients – this was most evident when a piece of research that I had written about dividend stocks, was included in an email to a client.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to reduce the workload of colleagues (e.g. by manipulating data on excel, to free up their time). I was also able to improve the offering to clients, by producing a sector specific information pack for income investors.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Communication, IT, networking

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Commercial awareness, perseverance, creative thinking

Research and Evaluation Assistant – YMCA

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Business and Management, Charity and Development Work, Economics, Education, Teaching and Research, Psychology, Sociology and Criminology

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

My main responsibilities included: interview volunteers about their experience of volunteering, interview project managers about the role and impact of volunteers in their project, shadow staff members in all departments to gain insight into their roles and how they interact with volunteers, design and run a focus group with a small group of clients to ascertain the impact volunteers have on them, transcribe and summarise interviews, produce a report about the findings of the interviews, outline findings, make recommendations for future work, and, present the report to key staff members.

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

My biggest achievement during this internship was gaining confidence in applying ‘classroom knowledge’ to real life problems and situations. I was able to see the project through from start to finish, which has given me confidence in being able to describe hands on experience in interviewing, research and evaluation.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to complete a project that the employer had wanted to carry out for some time (but had previously been unable to), providing research and evidence that has a multitude of uses. They will be able to use these findings to potentially make changes to their volunteering processes, and as evidence in applying for grants.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Problem solving, leadership, IT

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Perseverance, personal awareness, professionalism

Insight, Intelligence and Communications Intern – Southampton City Council

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Business and Management, Economics, English, Law, Management and Consultancy, Philosophy, Politics and Government, Politics and International Relations

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

I conducted a preparatory briefing on the Brexit White Paper which is circulated to senior staff and councillors of Southampton and completed a task concerning the mapping of public sector and third sector services that tackle serious violence in Southampton in order to inform the council’s decision to bid for Serious Violence Strategy funding. I created a local needs assessment that included current statistics regarding violent, knife, and hate crime, domestic abuse, reoffending rates, comparing the data nationally with statistical neighbours and per individual wards. Additionally, the needs assessment included data on looked after children, deprivation areas and school absences to coincide with the strategy’s youth prevention priority. I reviewed an annual report that records the progress of the actions that respond to the Youth Justice Strategy. From this report I deduced whether the action will remain for the forthcoming year or whether full progress had been made and thus a new action would take its place.

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

I realised my potential within the policy team and have definitely decided this is the career for me. Specifically, I actually aided the team with their work, especially with the creation of the local needs assessment and thus my internship was beneficial for everyone!

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I efficiently completed each task quicker than expected thus, freed up the teams work to do other tasks.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Problem solving, strategic planning, focus of goals and outcomes

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Confidence, cultural awareness, logical thinking

Museum Assistant – Museum of Witchcraft and Magic

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Archaeology and Anthropology, Art History and Visual Culture, Classics and Ancient History, Education, Teaching and Research, English, History, Libraries and Heritage, Sociology and Criminology

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

My main responsibilities included cataloguing museum exhibition objects, researching museum objects, and updating the database. The cataloguing and research generally centered on the current Ritual Magic exhibition called ‘Dew of Heaven’. The bulk of the cataloguing material included a donation of various 20th century occult materials, which required further research using the museum library and the internet, and making links to other objects in the museum’s collections. Another main task involved scanning in object labels made by the museum’s founder and matching them with their corresponding objects where possible. Some of my minor tasks also included setting the museum up in the morning – sweeping and lighting incense, as well as operating the till.

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

My biggest achievement over the course of my internship included using my research skills to uncover information about the members of the late 19th and early 20th century occultist Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Various sources revealed fascinating and enlightening information about the order’s then-secret members. This task was a part of the cataloguing project that was one of my responsibilities, which I successfully completed by the end of my internship, which I then outlined in a blog post on the museum’s website.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to finish a whole box file of labels which needed scanning and cataloguing on the online database, and I helped with research regarding the cataloguing project which lightened the workload of my colleagues and ensured that anyone seeking information about the objects would find a comprehensive description of them with links to related objects at the museum, as well as the sources that could provide further data.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Teamwork and collaboration, customer service, focus on goals and outcomes

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Initiative, independence, work ethic, professionalism

HR Administrator – Fugro GB Marine Ltd

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Business and Management, English, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Law, Law and Legal Services, Philosophy

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

Uploading vacancies to our website, intranet, and job boards, organising the recruitment mailbox and ensure hiring managers receive all incoming applications, arranging interviews and tests, as well as inductions, by liaising with candidates and managers, receiving all right to work documentation, CV’s and new starter forms and filing these appropriately, drafting letters to employees and new starters for salary reviews, contractual changes and promotions, navigating and where required, updating, company processes for recruitment and resignations, coordinating leavers, including confirming any final payroll deductions and booking exit interviews, creating contracts for new starters and inputting contractual changes to our systems for current staff, handling rejections, offers, queries, and the day to day requests for the HR Department.

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

I learnt a lot of information about the HR sector – developing skills in contracts, documentation and the importance of attention to detail in relation to this, and generally improved the formulation of processes and strategies to aid efficiency!

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I have eased the pressures on a very busy HR department, allowing HR Advisors to actually complete their advisor work rather than administrative tasks. I have also noted necessary changes to previous procedures in admin, making processes more user friendly and less time-consuming.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Communication, organisation, focus on goals and outcomes

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Commercial awareness, motivation, personal awareness