Name of Student:  Lindsay Warner

Job Title: GBP 5310 Programme Assistant

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship: Graduate Business Partnership (GBP)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Managing the relationship with partner students and overseeing their onboarding process as they participated in Challenges Online. Helped to manage a team of student reps, who helped deliver the Challenges Online programme. Provided administrative, technical and communications support to assist in the overall delivery of Challenges Online. Provided support across the wider Programme and SED team. Support interested students in continuing their projects after Challenges Online week ends.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?  

Outputs: promotional events; Challenges Online; promotional copy, e.g. website, sways; timetables; social media campaign; podcast episodes; feedback and evaluation reports.

Outcomes: 94% overall student satisfaction rate on Challenges Online, 100% student satisfaction rate from Leiden partner students and received an Above and Beyond Award from my colleague for collaboration with partner students

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

As part of my GBP role, I was involved in the overall delivery of Challenges Online. Challenges Online is an employability programme, in which students work in small teams to create a project across a week-long period, and this project aims to tackle a sustainability problem of their choosing (which is aligned with one of our Challenges that year). A key part of my position was liaising with our strategic partners in order to arrange and onboard partner students onto the Challenges Online programme. This involved collaborating with both internal and external stakeholders, e.g. the Assistant Director for Education Abroad at the University of South Florida, and Clare Crick at the University of Exeter, who in turn managed the relationship with the University of Leiden. I had regular meetings and emails with these stakeholders in order to keep them fully informed about students’ progress with us, and so that we could adapt our approach with any feedback they provided. I also managed all email marketing to partner students, and was involved with setting them up with Exeter IT accounts so that they could participate in the programme. I am pleased to report that Leiden students had a 100% satisfaction rate on the programme, and Clare was kind enough to award me an Above and Beyond Award for my collaboration in this area. These outcomes were a big achievement for me because this experience was crucial to developing my relationship management skills, my IT skills and my marketing skills, and it was great to see the positive impact of my work for students.

Skills Learnt: 

• Assessing and Managing Risk
• Organisation
• Leadership
• Strategic Planning
• Networking

Attributes Developed:

• Logical thinking
• Cultural Awareness
• Independence
• Work Ethic
• Professionalism

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

“I have had a fantastic experience on my GBP internship! Both Simon and Anka have been nothing but supportive throughout my time with the Programme team, and I have learned a lot whilst working alongside them. The dynamic of the team meant that I had agency and independence in any tasks that I was set, but I could also reach out for support if I needed it. I had weekly catch ups with the team, which was a nice way to catch up with each other as we worked remotely, while also ensuring that we stayed on top of our busy to do lists!”