Tag Archives: A2I

Employer Case Study: Morrab Library

Access to Internships (A2I), Charity and Development Work, Education, Teaching and Research, Employer Feedback, Libraries and Heritage, , , ,

Name of Organisation: Morrab Library

Description of Organisation: The Morrab Library is an independent library based in Penzance, Cornwall in the UK. It holds over 60,000 books, and extensive archive collections. Notable collections include the Dawson Napoleonic Collection comprising over 3,000 engravings and prints, photographic collections of over 15,000 prints and negatives, extensive runs of 18th and 19th century journals, the Jenner Collection of Cornish and Celtic books, and over 2,000 books printed from the 16th to 18th centuries.

Name of Employer: Lisa Di Tommaso

Job Title: Librarian

Internship Scheme used:  Access to Internships (A2I) 

Feedback:

“Our intern wrote a lengthy paper on the life of JT Blight within the context of the treatment of the mentally ill in 19th century Cornwall, which will be posted on our website and on social media. The paper will also be added to our archival collections, thus enhancing our understanding of the collections we hold. In due course, the intern will also return to deliver a talk to our members on the topic of her research.

This level of in-depth research and the length of the paper she produced were new to our intern, and she achieved a high standard in her work. She also worked largely alone, consulting myself and colleagues as needed, but essentially taking on the project and her choice of research materials herself, providing her with a great opportunity to learn about the techniques and process of academic research.

We very much enjoyed welcoming the intern as part of the team, and were incredibly sad to see her go when her time was completed. Her contribution to our knowledge of the library’s collections was greatly enhanced. I believe it was a highly positive experience for both us, and the intern.”

Employer Case Study: University of Exeter Biomedicine

Access to Internships (A2I), Biosciences, Employer Feedback, Internship Schemes, Science, , , ,

Name of Organisation: University of Exeter

Name of Employer: Sarah Richardson

Job Title: Associate Professor in Cellular Biomedicine

Internship Scheme used:  Access to Internships (A2I) 

Feedback:

“Our intern worked with the team to immunostain a collection of pancreas samples and then established an state-of-the-art AI image analysis pipeline to interrogate these. The results are likely to contribute towards preliminary data within a NERC grant application with some of our collaborators.

Learning the lab and image analyses methodologies, and increasing his confidence to work on these independently. This will have deepened his understanding of the practicalities of research, working with a team and applying knowledge gained during his degree.

Our intern has been great – enthusiastic and committed to learning. We have some great preliminary data for an interesting project extension that is likely to result in a publication and potentially more research funding for the university.”

Student Case Study: Solidum Solicitors

Access to Internships (A2I), Internship Schemes, Law, Law and Legal Services, , ,

 

Name of Student:  Fedaa Al Jundi

Degree Subject:  LLB Law

Job Title: Legal Assistant

Company Name:  Solidum Solicitors

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Ability to prioritise work.
Analytical skills.
Organisational skills.
Ability to strictly adhere to guidelines and procedures.
Communication and time management skills.
Problem solving.
General administrative work of a law firm.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I have developed new skills during my internship that I would not have developed during my studies which will set me up for the real workplace upon graduation. An example is how to deal with clients effectively or if they were vulnerable, for e.g. they have lost a loved one and were applying for probate.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Customer Service
  • Organisation

Attributes Developed:

  • Logical thinking
  • Cultural Awareness
  • Independence

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

I was involved in litigation cases where I was putting together trial paperwork and bundles. I did work in different areas of law, which narrowed my choices when thinking about specialising in one or two areas after graduation. I did legal research in different ways for different areas of law. I drafted letters and documents for court cases, which improved my legal drafting skills. I am very grateful for this opportunity.

This experience was overall amazing. It has boosted my confidence and provided me with new contacts. I would urge anyone to apply for internships even if they are not paid, because it will open many doors and provide many future opportunities. This was reflected during my internship, as I secured a paralegal role a day after my internship ended.

Student Case Study: Communications Coordinator and Research Assistant (UofE)

Access to Internships (A2I), Advertising, Marketing and PR, Degree subject, Internship Schemes, Psychology, , , ,

Name of Student:  Poppy Oliva Mary Cheeseman

Degree Subject:  Applied Psychology (Clinical) MSci

Job Title: Communications Coordinator and Research Assistant

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

As Communications Coordinator:

– Assisted with focus group discussions and communications with community partners, for a new smartphone study involving homeless individuals (SPACES study)

As Research Assistant:

– Contribute to the design of a smartphone application for tracking daily life activities and experiences among homeless individuals (SPACES study)
– Preparing study materials (including questionnaires, participant instructions; SPACES study and Affect Retrospect study)
– Writing and creating materials for the ethics application of the SPACES study
– Organizing and coding study data, assisting with data management (SPACES study and Affect Retrospect study)
– Collecting and organising research papers to include in a literature review study about the discrimination machine learning can provide between speech samples of participants with different neurocognitive disorders

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

First, I created two documents containing organisations relating to homeless charities from an extensive search. In addition to gathering potential collaborators who are interested in the field of homelessness from all universities in London and academics at the University of Exeter.
I worked heavily on the ethics application for the SPACES study, including creating supporting documents such as the information sheet, consent form and debriefing form.
I conducted my own analysis of data from a previous study with the aim to examine this data for conclusions that can be drawn from this data and how this may inform future projects.
I also created a large bank of extracted research articles to be included in a literature review related to how machine learning can be used to detect features of various neurocognitive disorders based on spoken language.
I would definitely say I developed greater confidence in approaching research and working in a scientific and academic field. Going into the internship I was a little overwhelmed by the tasks I would have to do and I remember doubting whether my input would be up to the standard my internship supervisor was expecting, but throughout the internship she provided excellent advice, encouragement and support that greatly improved my experience.
I also was able to improve my report writing skills and analytic skills in a much more practical and applied manner, Throughout my degree I use these skills but they are restricted to coursework that is set that doesn’t really apply well to the context of what I would be expected to write if I were to actually be working in a research or scientific field. This internship provided me the chance to actually do this which was a valuable learning experience.
I would say that my biggest achievement for this internship was simply knowing that I can do well in this type of work. I was hesitant to even apply for the funding to do this internship as I wasn’t sure how up to the task I would be, but I feel I performed well and that my work and contributions were to a good standard.

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

On a psychological level I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to complete the work at a satisfactory level. I overcame this by ignoring my misgivings and just attempting the work as best as I can and being prepared to accept any and all feedback and ensure I made the internship a learning experience and used the feedback I received to improve. I ensured I actually paid attention to positive feedback rather than glossing over it to just look at the improvements so that I would actually overcome my lack of confidence.

I found that the experience helped me with clarity of communication. My task was to draw conclusions from a pre-existing dataset my internship supervisor had collected which presented a challenge of organising this information in a way where another person could read my conclusions and how I’d arrived at them. I had to think carefully about the process I had taken to the data and think about how I could describe this process simply and logically. In the end I complied all of my findings into a single report that was accessible for someone who had not gone through the process of analysing the data themselves.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Networking
  • Organisation
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes
  • Leadership
  • Strategic Planning

Attributes Developed:

  • Logical thinking
  • Independence
  • Work Ethic
  • Motivation
  • Perseverance

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

“My internship was thoroughly enjoyable, made possible by my amazing supervisor who provided an engaging, challenging (in a good way), and fun internship experience. The internship provided me an opportunity to consider a career in this field as well as relevant experience for such a job. The process of applying and organising the internship was easy to do, allowing literally anyone to be able to make use of the scheme I applied through. The process of allowing us to seek out and create our own internship enables us to demonstrate our own initiative to seek out our own learning experiences and rewards us for this. I’m not sure if this scheme was available to me last year but now that I’ve completed this one I wish, if this was something I could have done last year, that I had done it last year as well as this year.”

Student Case Study: Wellbeing Services at University of Exeter

Access to Internships (A2I), Degree subject, Education, Teaching and Research, Health Care, Internship Schemes, Social Guidance and Community Work, Sociology and Criminology, , , ,

Name of Student:  Nina Warren

Degree Subject: Sociology

Job Title:  Wellbeing Intern

Company Name:  Wellbeing Services at University of Exeter

Type of Internship:  Access to Internships (A2I)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Offering the student perspective and feedback on the many elements of the service (providing stakeholder feedback), undertaking research for projects and campaigns within Wellbeing, working with other staff members on projects, and researching and speaking with other university Wellbeing departments to compare and share ideas for service improvement

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

My biggest achievement was probably the research report I produced on supporting Chinese international students at UK universities. I did a lot of reading around this and spoke to a few other universities, and the report I produced was thorough and I received feedback from several colleagues that it was interesting and enlightening and had a few requests for them to send on the report to other colleagues. This was my favourite piece of work as I found it fascinating and enjoyable and the end product was clearly valued by my colleagues, which really increased my confidence, too. Overall, my main personal achievements were an increase in initiative and independence, and increased confidence.

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

Mainly I would say working remotely was difficult for me and on days when I was tired I could become more easily distracted at home than if I had been working in person. I overcame this by scheduling catch-up meetings whenever possible, as these meetings kept me motivated, on-track and accountable, and broke up the day.
I also set myself to-do lists that included very small and manageable steps, so that rather than feeling overwhelmed by seemingly large tasks and therefore feeling demotivated, my work felt much more achievable.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Organisation
  • Researching
  • Time and Work Load Management
  • Strategic Planning
  • Communication

Attributes Developed:

  • Creative thinking
  • Independence
  • Initiative
  • Confidence
  • Professionalism

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

My internship experience has been (and still is, as we have agreed to an extension of my internship!) really enlightening and helpful for me. It has increased my understanding of university Wellbeing services, an area I was interested in exploring as a career, and has confirmed to me it that student support is a career path that I am interested in taking. I was made to feel so welcome and relaxed by the staff at Wellbeing and from the get-go I felt valued and encouraged by everybody I work with. This helped me to relax into my work and reduced the pressure. I was given the space to grow and work at my own pace, which was motivating and enjoyable, and has helped me to produce work that both I and my colleagues are proud of. It has been an excellent experience. I am excited to have secured a part time extension with the team.

Student Case Study: Research Assistant UofE

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Education, Teaching and Research, Information Technology, Internship Schemes, , , ,

Name of Student:  Elizabeth Hedges

Degree Subject:  BA Philosophy

Job Title: Research Assistant

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship:  Access to Internships (A2I)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

– checking references in manuscript
– searching through library databases for research
– searching through recently published relevant works

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I learnt how philosophical research is done, and was able to apply that to help towards a final project. Since I was working with a manuscript, I wasn’t able to produce a final project, but I did create smaller goals that I was able to achieve, such as following lines of research, and finding specific items of evidence for arguments.

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

When I first started, I had trouble finding relevant information, as I would search though databases, and thousands of texts would come up. I was able to work with the library to practice my research skills, and I am now able to research effectively.

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 worked as a research assistant, for a lecturer I admire, on a piece of work that I found extremely interesting. I was clear that I hope to work as an academic, so I was allowed to experience what this would be like, through the work I was asked to do. I felt supported throughout my internship, and whilst I was working towards various goals, I was allowed to follow my own interests in the topic and develop the skills that I wanted to focus on. I loved working as an intern, and am very excited for the opportunities it has opened for me.

Student Case Study: Conference Assistant UofE

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Advertising, Marketing and PR, Education, Teaching and Research, Internship Schemes, , , ,

Name of Student:  Zamir Kadodia

Degree Subject:  BA Philosophy

Job Title: Conference Assistant

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship:  Access to Internships (A2I)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

  • Responsible for putting together a programme committee.
  • Responsible for co-ordinating the refereeing of abstract submissions.
  • Responsible for co-ordinating acceptance/rejection of abstracts.
  • Responsible for co-ordinating the conference programme.
  • Responsible for conference management: leading a team of postgraduate volunteers, co-ordinating notices and last-minute changes, answering questions, guiding delegates.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

The work helped to enable the smooth running of the conference. The biggest task was perhaps co-ordinating the refereeing of abstracts, where I had to gather a list of philosophers willing to review abstracts, and then delegate each abstract to three philosophers, making sure each abstract was within that philosopher’s field of study and that there was no overlap. This was a mammoth task, and I developed new skills along the way such as working with EasyChair and Microsoft Excel. It was a great personal achievement of mine to see each paper through from the submissions, to acceptance or rejection, to refereeing, and then finally to see them presented at the conference where I was an assistant.

Were there any challenges and how did you overcome these?

There were occasions where we did not have enough reviewers for the papers we had accepted, and this involved a lot of emails to a lot of different philosophers, which was very time consuming. Thus, I had to plan ahead and develop my skills of planning and also communication. Further, at the conference, there were times when some of the conference assistants had to drop out because of illness, so I overcame these challenges by taking up their shifts or discussing a plan of action with the other assistants.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Problem Solving
  • Organisation
  • IT
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes
  • 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?

Overall, this was a fantastic experience. I had an amazing line manager who trained me enough so that I could complete the tasks I needed to complete independently, and gain new skills in the process. It was great to be involved with all aspects of the conference, and see it through from start to finish. Although it was challenging at times, the rewards far outweigh the benefits, and I believe taking this internship has shown me a different side to the field of philosophy, and one not seen by an undergraduate. I was glad to have had this opportunity.

Student Case Study: University of Exeter Research Assistant

Access to Internships (A2I), Biosciences, Degree subject, Internship Schemes, Science, , , ,

Name of Student: Francesca Southern

Degree Subject: Biochemistry

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I)

Company Name: University of Exeter

Job Title: Research Assistant

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Continuing research on mitochondrial DNA epigenetics in neurodegenerative diseases and generally assisting in the lab by tidying, sorting deliveries and helping on other projects

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I discovered a recent article publication that suggested an alternative way of research, we practiced that alternative method, and it gave the best results we have had so far. This increased my confidence and independence in the lab.

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

I think the main challenge for me was having the ability to work consistently over the week. A lot of the internship required creative thinking surround lab methods, this in addition to long days in the lab made it test my resilience and critical thinking skills. I spoke to my colleagues about how best to get a routine going in the lab and from that they advised me about how to manage my workload and rest when outside the lab. I was then able to quickly improve my consistency and make fewer mistakes.

Skills Learnt: 

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

Attributes Developed:

  • Initiative
  • Perseverance
  • Professionalism
  • Confidence
  • Motivation

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

“Overall I had an incredibly positive internship experience. The one thing that stood out to me was how great it felt to be part of a team. A lot of the time undergraduate work is independent so I wasn’t used to working with a team every day. There was a lot of support from everyone in the research group, PhD students were interested in how my study was going and vice versa so I felt I learnt a significant amount through communication with other members of the research group. I felt I gained an insight into the working world and it made me excited for future employment.”

Student Case Study: University of Exeter

Degree subject, Modern Languages, Sociology and Criminology, , , , , ,

Name of Student:  Olivia Foulkes

Degree Subject: BA Sociology and Modern Languages

Job Title: Family Support Worker Intern

Company Name:  University of Exeter

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My key duties as a family support worker was liaising to help run the prison visits, help support inmates with any family related issues and get in contact with their families.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?  

I started a project for the company looking at the impact of parental imprisonment on children, and what services there are and how liaising between services can be improved.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Problem Solving
  • Communication
  • Decision Making

Attributes Developed:

  • Logical thinking
  • Confidence
  • Personal Awareness
  • Independence
  • Work Ethic

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

“My internship really helped me get a better sense of the sector I was working in. It has definitely helped with improving my social skills (especially after COVID) as it has been a long time I have had to use those skills. The internship has really improved my confidence and belief in myself. It has motivated me to take be confident in starting my career path as I now know I have the skills to do so.”

Student Case Study: SwapNation

Access to Internships (A2I), Degree subject, History, Internship Schemes, Retail, Sector, ,

Name of Student:  Mel Watt

Degree Subject: BA History with Study Abroad

Job Title: Sustainability Manager

Company Name:  SwapNation (formerly known as The Dress Change)

Description of Company: We are the UK’s first Peer to Peer Exchange Platform! We make sustainable fashion affordable for women in the UK, by creating an online space to exchange clothing, shoes and accessories with each other. We provide rewards for our members in the form of events, discounts and goodies from local small sustainable companies. Exchanging fashion means we are both saving money and helping the environment, by reducing the amount that ends up in landfill.

Type of Internship:   Access to Internships (A2I) 

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My overall role was to enhance SwapNation’s sustainability policies and messaging by: 1) Producing creative outputs including website copy, blog posts, Instagram posts, TikTok videos, and co-ordinating social media campaigns 2) Reviewing SwapNation’s sustainability policies and making recommendations for improvement 3) Sending out a press release and securing press coverage 4) Helping co-organise and host the SwapNation studio – the UK’s first permanent swap shop – and launch event with influencers and journalists 5) Conducting research on the circular fashion industry and our main competitors

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?  

I delivered many outputs including:

1) Writing a website page on sustainability so SwapNation can enhance its USP

2) Creating multiple blog posts and social media content to enhance awareness and click-throughs to our service

3) Planning #Swaptober, a social media campaign and pledge that will heighten public awareness and willingness to swap

4) Successfully distributing a press release which has garnered press interest and secured coverage in an online newsletter and publication

5) Networking with influencers, journalists and businesses to secure future collaboration and coverage

6) Creating an industry research report to help us better understand how to target our chosen demographic

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I was tasked with boosting the visibility of SwapNation which I achieved through a range of social media outputs, press coverage and our launch event. I curated the guest list for our opening event which included high-profile fashion and sustainability influencers and journalists. The event was a huge success, generating both press and influencer coverage and greatly bolstering our traffic. It was a worthwhile networking event and one that has seen a rise of visitors to our studio.

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

Myself and the SwapNation team were interviewed for a BBC News segment which showcased the opening of the UK’s first swap studio. However, I was really unhappy with the way it was edited because it made me appear somewhat inarticulate and unable to calculate numbers in my head. I felt embarrassed that I had been misrepresented on national television, but showed resilience in making light of the situation and appreciating that the feature had greatly boosted SwapNation’s traffic regardless.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Organisation
  • Customer Service
  • Teamwork and Collaboration
  • Leadership
  • Strategic Planning

Attributes Developed:

  • Logical thinking
  • Initiative
  • Commercial Awareness
  • Creative thinking
  • Work Ethic

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

“As Sustainability Manager at SwapNation – the UK’s first peer-to-peer exchange platform and swap studio – I enhanced the company’s sustainability policies and messaging. I achieved this by researching and creating a variety of outputs including social media content, website copy and blog posts, as well as co-organising an influencer event and securing press coverage. Combined, my work demonstrated the sustainable benefits of clothes swapping, enhanced consumer awareness around swapping and platformed swapping as your guilt-free alternative to shopping, in store and online.”