Category Archives: Defence and Public Protection

Student Case Study: Saudi British Joint Business Council

Name of Student:  Sophie Wormley

Degree Subject:  BSc Politics and International Relations

Job Title: Membership and Marketing Assistant

Company Name:  Saudi British Joint Business Council

Description of Company: We are an independent and private sector-led body, which aims to develop and enhance business relations between Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. Through both its British and Saudi members and its Secretariat in London and Riyadh, the council offers a range of services and provides access to high-level governmental and private sector networks in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

Type of Internship:  Student Business Partnerships (SBPs) 

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Throughout this internship I have had many responsibilities including marketing events, recruiting new members, drafting the monthly newsletter and helped organise our big event.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?  

One output I produced was the monthly newsletter which I drafted each month, this would inform the members of any updates to our organisation as well as some news updates in Saudi Arabia. We would encourage members to take part in our upcoming events and it certainly increased the engagement. Another output I produced was marketing our organisation’s events on LinkedIn to increase awareness of not only our events but also our organisation to encourage new members to join. Through several posts, the organisation’s LinkedIn gained many followers.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

My biggest achievement was my input in ensuring the smoothness of the big event we ran. SBJBC hosted the ‘UK/Saudi Sustainable Investment Forum’ in mid July and it required a lot of effort in all areas. My role was to market the event as well as complete a lot of admin tasks including creating spreadsheets of the attendees and ensuring they had the relevant documents (ie. approval and Covid restrictions). As a result of my work, the event ran very smoothly and was well organised across all areas.

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

I certainly felt shy at some points in the internship and lacked the confidence to talk on group calls. However, throughout the course of my internship I have made a considerable effort to improve on this. Through researching the events and asking questions, I now feel a lot more confident speaking on calls.

Skills Learnt:  

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Leadership
  • Strategic Planning
  • Decision Making

Attributes Developed:

  • Logical thinking
  • Creative thinking
  • Independence
  • Work Ethic
  • Professionalism

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

“I have loved completing my internship this summer. Not only has it massively improved my confidence, it has given me many employability skills which will certainly help in the future. I have learned the importance of team work, especially working within such a small team as I have had constant communication with my colleagues. Although I may have felt shy at some points, I overcame this by asking questions and carrying out lots of research to ensure I felt confident speaking on calls.”

Devon and Cornwall OPCC -Employer Case Study

Name of Organisation: Devon and Cornwall OPCC

Description of Organisation:  The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner is a non-political, impartial organisation and its head of paid service is the chief executive officer. The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner is a separate organisation to Devon and Cornwall Police. It fits into several categories such as strategy, policy and performance, Criminal justice, commissioning and partnerships, collaborations, and national activity as well as, many more. The Police and Crime Commissioner is to be the voice of the people in policing.

Name of Employer: Andrew Kirchin

Job Title: Communications and Engagement Manager

Internship Scheme used:  GBP

Graduate Business Partnership (GBP) – Employment Services – University of Exeter

Feedback:

We employed an intern to work within our office of the police and crime commissioner. The GBP became a valued member of the team very quickly and showed her worth. She worked hard in the workplace and made a great impact on our organisation. We were very impressed with her work so we have extended her internship with us and we would also like to offer her a full-time contract too.

This is the third intern I have brought into my team and, in all the fifth into the office. All have made a fantastic impact, and all have been offered a full-time roll as a result. Bringing in bright, ambitious individuals has changed the dynamic of the office for the better in a way I have seldom seen in the public sector.

I would just like to say that, yet again, the standard of applicant we attracted through the University’s Graduate Business Partnership was outstanding. All three passed the threshold for appointment at interview. We were very impressed with the way the chosen candidate presented herself. She was a credit to whatever work the University does to prepare students for this next stage of their lives. I would highly recommend the University of Exeter’s internship team and we will continue to use this brilliant service.

 

Saudi British Joint Business Council- Employer Case Study

Name of Organisation: Saudi British Joint Business Council

Description of Organisation: We are an independent and private sector-led body, which aims to develop and enhance business relations between Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. Through both its British and Saudi members and its Secretariat in London and Riyadh, the council offers a range of services and provides access to high-level governmental and private sector networks in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

Name of Employer: Chris Innes-Hopkins

Job Title: UK Executive Director

Internship Scheme used:  A2I, SBP

Employer subsidies (A2I) – Employment Services – University of Exeter

Student Business Partnership (SBP) – Employment Services – University of Exeter

Feedback:

We hired a Business Council Membership and Marketing Assistant through the University of Exeter Internship Scheme. The intern was prepared for the workplace and worked extremely well. He made an excellent contribution to SBJBC’s work and events, including leading on development of a new website.

The intern quickly made an impression and became a valuable member of our small team, leading on a number of events as well as preparation also. He demonstrated flexibility through remote working, working when necessary.

The Exeter internships at SBJBC have offered students the opportunity to help manage high profile events and important business relationships.  We were so impressed by the calibre of the student that we extended his role and offered him a full-time role for another six months to take forward a number of new projects. It’s pleasing to know that many interns have used the experience to move onto relevant careers in public and government affairs and communications.

This is the sixth time we have used the University’s Internship scheme, and as before it was a very positive experience. We received a good service from the Internships Team and would definitely recommend the Internships Scheme to other employers

 

Devon County Council- Employer Case Study

Name of Organisation: Devon County Council

Description of Organisation and Role: Devon County Council is the county council administering services across Devon. The members are elected every four years to reflect the electorate of each county division. Most being nominated by the large national political parties.

The main purpose of the internship was to support the Democratic process of Devon County Council to assist in ensuring those processes are carried out in accordance with statutory requirements and the Council’s Constitution and procedures and also with the promotion and encouragement of public involvement and participation through, for example, webcasting and social media.

Name of Employer: Karen Strahan

Job Title: Head of Democratic Services

Internship Scheme used:  GBP

Graduate Business Partnership (GBP) – Employment Services – University of Exeter

Feedback:

We recruited an intern to work as a Democratic and Scrutiny Support Officer. He worked on a task group which researched air quality and congestion in Devon. This included producing a report with innovative recommendations targeted at improving air quality and congestion. The report attracted media attention with the Chair undertaking a radio interview, based on the work done by our brilliant intern. Our student became a very important part of our team.

I believe quite passionately about giving young people the opportunity to start their careers and give them a platform to move onwards and upwards. At present there was no vacant full-time position to offer so I made the decision to go through the intern process for a second time.

As a newly appointed manager, I was keen to explore the opportunities offered by the GBP. The fact that I am about to undertake a second placement is testament to the GBP and the calibre of candidates that apply for the positions. The experience was very positive, support from the University of Exeter is excellent and also a fresh face joining the team is always good to shake things up and look at how we do things differently. I recommend hiring an intern, ours was timely and smart and made a positive contribution to our organisation.

 

Restore Support Network- Employer Case Study

Name of Organisation: Restore Support Network

Description of Organisation: We are a national registered charity who provides personalised and specialist one to one support for people who are in prison prior to release, as well as those who are over the age of 50 with criminal convictions in the community with physical, mental health or social care needs.

Name of Employer: Stuart Ware

Job Title: Chief Executive Officer

Internship Scheme used:  A2I Employer subsidies (A2I) – Employment Services – University of Exeter

Feedback:

We recruited an intern to work as a Trainee Mentor and Coordinator who worked exceptionally well as part of our small team.

We were all very happy with the calibre of the student. She worked hard to meet all the objectives we set and played a lead role in developing an ex-offenders women’s group which was attended by over 10 women.

The University of Exeter student proved an enormous benefit to our charity and she contributed greatly to the development of our women’s support group. Without hesitation we would have her again placed with us. She was a great credit to the university.

We found the internship experience very positive and the contribution our intern made in our organisation was outstanding.

 

 

Communications Intern – Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

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

During the course of the internship I planned for the launch of a new official Twitter account for the force and researched how this could be best utilised. I also wrote a number of articles to be featured on the website and wrote a variety of reports about individual tasks/topics which I was given by the team. I attended a 1 day induction course, where I joined new employees to learn about the organisation itself: the day ranged from Health and Safety to Firearms to the force’s operations across the UK & world. I was also involved in an afternoon of role play with the new recruits, which acted as a fantastic eye opener into how new officers are trained to deal with members of the public when on patrol. The internship helped hone my skills in areas such as communication, teamwork and delivering projects within a set time frame.

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

Communication. I was placed into a new environment and was required to communicate with a variety of different individuals, ranging from office staff, to police trainers, to the Chief Constable. A huge learning curve, but one which has benefited me incredibly.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Over the course of the timeI was able to complete a number of tasks which had been in the pipeline for some time. The most important of these was the planning for the Twitter account.

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

Gaining security clearance was the greatest difficulty I had before I even started my internship. But after weeks of communication between myself and my mentor at CNC we were successfully able to complete everything and have myself cleared for work on site.