Tag Archives: Cornwall

Student Case Study- Planet Earth Games

Name of Student:  Dominic Hughes

Degree Subject: BA Politics with Study Abroad

Job Title:  Marketing and Communications Officer

Company Name:  Planet Earth Games

Type of Internship:  Access to Internships (A2I)Student Business Partnerships (SBPs)

Description of Company: Young people and adults are more concerned over climate change and its effects on the natural environment than at any other time. At the same time, inactivity and obesity are at record levels. We are a not-for-profit organisation who passionately believe in the symbiotic relationship between the environment and human activity.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My key duties were the management of digital platforms and to develop content for digital platforms. I was also responsible for website management, including regular updates as well as, PR and Communications, including media relations and generating media coverage.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

The outputs and outcomes I delivered for my employer was strong digital engagement on all platforms and I drove event sales towards minimum of 60% occupancy.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

Being involved in the launch of the first ever Planet Earth Games, our team sought press coverage in the lead up to the event and also media coverage on the day. The task was to contact media organisations with press releases and invites to the event. We were delighted as a BBC representative attended on the day.

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

It proved really difficult to convert digital engagement to event sign ups, particularly filling boys football teams and tennis teams. As a result, we were forced to drop boys football and tennis from the schedule.

Skills Learnt 

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

Attributes Developed 

  • Confidence
  • Initiative
  • Perseverance
  • Motivation
  • Personal Awareness

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

“I cannot recommend the Access to Internship scheme enough. Chris Broadbent, the CEO of Planet Earth Games, has worked in media and marketing for many years and was fantastic to work with. We worked to deliver a meaningful project – the world’s first environment themed multi-sport event.”

Employer Quote:

“Working with the University internship scheme was transformational for our growing organisation and allowed us to deliver a highly ambitious event with very little resources.” – Chris Broadbent

Student Case Study:  The Eden Project

Name of Student:  Max Parkin

Degree Subject: BA History – Cornwall

Job Title:  Research Writer Intern

Company Name:  The Eden Project

Type of Internship:  Access to Internships (A2I)Student Business Partnerships (SBPs)

Description of Company: The Eden Project, an educational charity, connects us with each other and the living world, exploring how we can work towards a better future. Our visitor destination in Cornwall, UK, is nestled in a huge crater. Here, massive Biomes housing the largest rainforest in captivity, stunning plants, exhibitions and stories serve as a backdrop to our striking contemporary gardens, summer concerts and exciting year-round family events.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

To research specific briefed environmental/social/sustainable topics for the Eden Project as directed by the Director of Interpretation. To write, summarise and authenticate research documents and storylines with references. And/or to write final copy across a range of media using Eden’s house style and brand guidelines.

Key accountabilities (depending on area the student wishes to gain experience in):
1. To research specific briefed topics using literature searches and by communicating with organisations and experts in the field, working to set deadlines.
2. To write master files (as laid out in the Eden guidelines) on specific briefed topics with full list of references.
3. To write compelling storylines, narrative and content briefs to enable interpretation of specific subjects across a wide range of media.
4. To write final copy for specific exhibits, events, digital and web content and publications using Eden’s house style and brand guidelines.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

The main task for the interpretation department at that time was Eden’s summer content – Earth Story. I was asked to research in detail Megafaunal extinction during the end of the last Ice Age and the potential human involvement. The end result was a detailed document which was then used to help the graphics team produce an extinction timeline which can now be seen in the Earth Story exhibit at Eden.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I was given a topic I had 0 previous knowledge of – Megafauna. I was asked to produce a detailed research document and became an ‘expert’. My research was verified by Natural History Museum Professor, Adrian Lister and played an instrumental role in producing content which is now displayed in one of Britain’s top visitor attractions. 

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

Initially, it was difficult to get to grips with my task, my progress was slow to start – I made sure to communicate well with Sarah, my boss, and ask lots of questions when I became lost.

Skills Learnt 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Communication
  • Team Work and Collaboration
  • Problem Solving
  • Time and Work Load Management

Attributes Developed 

  • Confidence
  • Initiative
  • Perseverance
  • Motivation
  • Personal Awareness

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

“Working with the Eden Project for my internship was highly rewarding, exciting and eye opening. I became an ‘expert’ in a topic I’d never even heard of before, I met some great people and a future career path.”

Student Case Study – Roly’s Fudge

Name of Student:  Annabel Ilic

Degree Subject: BSC Management with Marketing

Job Title:  Communications Assistant Intern

Company Name:  Roly’s Fudge

Type of Internship:   Access to Internships (A2I)Student Business Partnerships (SBPs)

Description of Company: Originating from Devon in the West Country over 30 years ago, we now have independently-run family fudge pantries across the UK. Each shop uses traditional recipes to make fresh fudge every day, handmade in full view for you to see.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

During my internship I created blog posts and social media posts. I also produced newsletters and general marketing (with a focus on re-branding and the environment and sustainability).

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

The key outputs and outcomes I delivered for my employer was producing blog posts and social media posts to gain more exposure. I created two newsletters which were a huge success. The first being opened by 1352 people and the second by 1445 people.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I was asked to help with the re-branding of the business, focusing on the ‘faces of Roly’s Fudge’ (the families who own different franchises). I had to create profiles for each owner, using Canva and help to create the webpage for it on WordPress. Whilst this is still a work-in-progress, my manager is very happy with what I have done and it has been a very intrinsically motivating task as well. It has provided me an outlet to show what I have learnt during my internship and hope in the future it will help change people’s perceptions of the business.

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

Nothing notable. Sometimes time-management was difficult and I found myself running out of tasks, but by communicating my thoughts and giving feedback to my manager, everything was resolved.

  Skills Learnt 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Leadership
  • Time and Work Load Management
  • Organisation

  Attributes Developed 

  • Confidence
  • Initiative
  • Perseverance
  • Motivation

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

“I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from my internship, but I have absolutely loved it. This experience has provided me with many useful skills that I will no doubt use in the future. After opting out of my industrial placement, it has given me a real boost of confidence and reassured me that I have the ability to be effective in the workplace. Better still, I was given the flexibility of working from home so it complimented my university studies well. I would recommend this scheme to anyone who is looking for meaningful experience and an insight into what ‘real life’ work is all about.”

Employer Quote:

“I was really pleased with the service from the internships team, who guided us through every step, advertising for the role and even helping with funding.  We took on two interns who were keen to learn and were so pleased with them that we offered them further work with us.” – Dannee McGuire (Director)

Student Case Study:  Colab- Resilient Women’s Project

Name of Student:  Jane Curmi

Degree Subject: BSC Sociology and Criminology

Job Title:  Resilient women project intern

Company Name:  Colab – Resilient Women’s Project

Type of Internship:  Access to Internships (A2I)

Description of Company: As an integrated cross sector wellbeing and innovation hub our goal is to improve lives by improving the context in which support for change occurs, as well as delivering meaningful and relevant services. Supporting people with complex life situations and multiple disadvantages, such as mental ill-health, homelessness, domestic and sexual violence and abuse, substance misuse, (re)offending and poverty we focus our support around recovery, belonging, rehabilitation and wellbeing.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Support the facilitation and delivery of a range of initiatives, working with the team to support women in the Criminal Justice System and those with complex needs, support resilient women’s project navigator scheme to offer direct pathway planning to women in the Criminal Justice System, support the delivery of resilient women financial abuse project training sessions, supporting the women’s sex worker project, take part in team meetings, learning opportunities and presentations, write findings and recommendations for future development as part of my placement requirement.

 

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I was asked to support the women’s sex workers project; the resilient women’s project was awarded Tampon Tax funding to undertake a further scoping exercise which would include gaining the views of women themselves and were awarded a really small pot of funding. The aim is to inform health and other social policy makers of what the needs are and how women want them to be addressed, with a view to looking at how to further support women in this situation. I was asked by the project manager to look over evidence that was already collected to familiarise myself with the project. I done this and I also spent some time researching recent literature on the subject, then worked out a plan of how the project aims could be met. I researched links that could be involved in the Exeter area and composed various emails and sent it to links that could have some knowledge of women sex workers in the Exeter area. this received a response from SWARM in London who gave me a contact link in Exeter University. I arranged a meeting with my manager, the contact and I. This meeting was successful and provided the resilient women’s project at Exeter University.

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

In general, my internship was very successful, the only thing I can say that did not go very well was when I was co-facilitating a course and a women turned up half way through the course and asked to take part. I felt that on instinct I should let her join the group. however, when reflecting afterwards I should have asked a senior member of staff as the women who attend these groups have multiple complex needs and I felt I may have let someone join and the situation could of changed and I would not be able to handle it. I discussed my feelings with my manager afterwards and came to the conclusions that in the future when a women turns up and the course has already started that she not be allowed to participate for the safety of the other attendees. This made me reflect on making quick decisions, I will in future be aware what the of making quick decisions and what the repercussions of that may be. 

Skills Learnt

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Strategic Planning
  • Customer Service
  • Leadership

Attributes Developed

  • Creative thinking
  • Confidence
  • Initiative
  • Perseverance
  • Motivation

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

“Colab is a dynamic place to work, I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement and I have been given work opportunities and experience I would not normally have access to. This internship has provided me with the experience I need to complete my studies and further my career.”

Employer Quote:

“Jane has been an exemplary student whilst working with the project.  She slotted into the team really naturally and went above and beyond the objectives set when needed.   I would like to thank Jane and the University for enabling this really interesting internship to take place.”

Student Case Study:  College of Life and Environmental Sciences

Name of Student:  Ben Fisher

Degree Subject: BSC Biological Sciences

Job Title:  Mini Module Research Intern

Company Name:  College of Life and Environmental Sciences

Type of Internship: Student Campus Partnerships (SCPs)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Researching the current teaching provisions for maths across the Biosciences programmes. Assessing the mathematical ability of incoming A-level entrants and then using these two data sets to identify learning gaps. I then developed new interactive module content to help teach the concepts identified as being part of the learning gap, and finally presented all my work to the education committee at departmental level.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

Outputs: Analysed data sets, reports on learning tools, reports on current teaching provisions, new online teaching material.

Outcomes: Yet to be seen, hopefully an increased awareness of the importance of maths skills for teaching staff to consider and an increased understanding of key statistical concepts for first year students through using the new teaching tools.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

Initially I was employed as a research intern, to examine the data sets that were available and analyse those for where future development could occur. I decided that my research would only be valuable if there was a physical output from the research that would aid students. Through discussions with my supervisor I identified both a platform on which these new teaching tools could be developed fairly easily and identified the subject themes which would have the greatest impact (least understood topics). This resulted in the full development of 2 interactive learning tools for statistical concepts with a 3rd tool partially developed. These are new to Biosciences and take a form that hasn’t been done before, combining content delivery with continuous assessment in research based teaching scenarios.

Skills Learnt

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Strategic Planning
  • Time and Work Load Management
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes 

Attributes Developed

  • Commercial Awareness
  • Confidence
  • Initiative
  • Perseverance
  • Motivation

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

“From the interview through to regular supervision meetings, my placement replicated a real working environment. This gave me a valuable insight in to what a research focused career could look like which will be especially useful for future career planning. I particularly enjoyed being able to discuss my work with members of staff in a professional forum who were passionate about my research area. I felt that my work was valued and my contributions and opinions would be taken on board, which was a key motivator for my throughout my placement.”

Student Case Study: Mayes Creative    

Name of Student:  Evangelia Kappos

Degree Subject: BA English 

Job Title: Marketing Intern

Company Name: Mayes Creative

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I)

Description of Company: Mayes Creative engages the communities of Cornwall, Isles of Scilly and beyond in creative experiences to explore their world through heritage, science, technology and the environment. We want to discover new ways of thinking and doing that are fun and surprising, encouraging inspiration and broadening horizons.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My key duties and responsibilities during my internship were the social media management of the company as well as, marketing and press releases.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

The key output I delivered to my employer was a social media campaign.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

I successfully marketed a project from the initial campaign idea to completion of a website page, content, and hashtag, which then resulted in the aimed for participation. This included schools in Cornwall getting involved and completing the challenge by sending the project origami suns to care homes, to spread community and joy.

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

My hashtag definitely could have taken off more with other people within the community and I believe this could have been helped by creating press releases for radio and local press, and encouraging relatives and family to take part. I began to do this but unfortunately ran out of time!

Skills Learnt 

  • Communication
  • Teamwork and Collaboration
  • Negotiation
  • Leadership
  • Persuasion

Attributes Developed 

  • Confidence
  • Initiative
  • Perseverance
  • Motivation

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

“This internship empowered me to consider myself an asset to a workplace, and to enter the job market after university with confidence and self-assurance. It also underlined to me in helpful ways where I can grow and develop as a result of the mentorship I received and through working with my fellow students.”

 

Student Case Study: University of Exeter: Child Health Group – Institute for Health Research    

Name of Student:  Rebecca Bates

Degree Subject: Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery

Job Title: Research Assistant

Company Name: University of Exeter: Child Health Group – Institute for Health Research

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I) 

Description of Company: The Child Health and Wellbeing Research Network brings together researchers across the University of Exeter that conduct research in the area of children’s health and wellbeing. The network spans many of the University’s colleges and represents 13 different groups, all with related work in this important field of enquiry. It was formed to ensure that strong collaboration and inter-disciplinary thinking and skills are at the heart of the research conducted, for the benefit of children and young people.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My key duties and responsibilities during my internship were research data analysis, report writing, proofreading and preparing a conference presentation.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

I presented our research at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s annual conference. I also began work on national paper grown from the data analysis done on local data (I will be an author on the former, and lead author of the latter) – up to two PubMed papers can be taken into account during the Foundation Application process (the process you must undertake to be allocated a job after medical school), and being able to work on two so early will mean that I will have these reviewed and published by the time I am applying.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

Situation: Annual conference of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Task: Presenting the research and data I had been working on

Actions: Preparing presentation, trial run with research team for feedback,

Result: Successful presentation in which I “didn’t seem like a medical student”, including two contacts made after which will hopefully lead to research links. This will also be relevant all the way through to my specialty applications as I have now presented at a national conference.

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

I was very lucky in that no major challenges spring to mind, and any small queries and blips were well handled by my supportive supervisor – even down to worrying about the cost of travel to the conference resulting in this being covered by the team.

I had been worried my ADHD would preclude me from being successful in research but the structure the team provided meant that I was able to meet crucial deadlines such as being prepared for the conference and succeed in a way I could not have imagined at the start of my degree.

Skills Learnt 

  •  Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Time and Work Load Management
  • Strategic Planning
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes

Attributes Developed 

  • Personal awareness
  • Cultural awareness
  • Logical thinking
  • Creative thinking
  • Independence

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

“My internship has helped me truly accept that there can be a place for me in research, as someone with ADHD – a dream I thought I’d have to give up when I first realised that not everything comes as easy to me as it does to others. It also meant I could afford to take the time to get my presentation right, and play a significant role in the writing of the paper, based on my data analysis – meaning I could see it through from beginning to end. I am so grateful for the opportunity and hope I can find a way to afford to continue this journey.”

Student Case Study: The Rock Pool Project

Name of Student:  Eleanor Stanton

Degree Subject: BSC Marine Biology – Cornwall

Job Title:  Digital Development Intern (Rock Pooling Platform)

Company Name:  The Rock Pool Project

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I)

Description of Company: We are a social enterprise that encourages people of all ages to discover the incredible marine life found around our beautiful coast. Our expert marine biologists offer bespoke private rockpool safaris, educational group field trips and public beach events.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My key duties included working closely with the project leader to run events. I spoke to members of the public about what the project does and helped attendees to identify and record species they found. I also worked a lot on the project website, social media and newsletters, and coordinated other staff members and volunteers.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

I produced were social media posts, newsletters and updating the website, including targeting a new demographic through Instagram.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

On one event I was running with the project leader his car got stuck, and while he was dealing with that I took over running the event. I had to take a register of all the children attending (it was a kids event in the school holidays), and then talk to them about beach awareness and safety, before teaching them how to use the devices we use to record species we find. I then ran the first half of the event myself, helping them to find and identify species and record them in a useable manner. The result was that the event ran smoothly despite the major car issue.

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

My main challenge was having to learn quickly on the ground how to identify species and talk about them to the public. I am quite shy normally, so being forced to interact with and educate others was a struggle at times but it is definitely a challenge I am overcoming,

Skills Learnt 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Time and Work Load Management
  • Strategic Planning
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes

Attributes Developed 

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

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

“My internship experience was incredibly valuable as it gave me experience in the marine field, working with experts in the subject I am interested in. I was able to gain lots of knowledge on the UK’s coastal wildlife as well as transferrable skills such as teamwork and communication, which will be useful to me wherever I end up in the future.”

Student Case Study: Bitpod

Name of Student:  Alicia Shelford 

Degree Subject: BSC Management with Marketing WIE

Job Title:  Marketing Intern (Social Media)

Company Name: Bitpod

Type of Internship:   Access to Internships (A2I), Student Business Partnerships (SBPs)

Description of Company: We’re an award-winning video marketing company based in Exeter. We get excited about helping clients to grow their businesses by capturing what makes them unique. The Bitpod approach is based on taking the time to understand your aims before deciding on the best way to achieve them. That’s why we’ve built lasting relationships with many of our clients. With a background in marketing and web development, we’re always thinking about how video fits into the bigger picture of your marketing strategy.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

– Presenting an 8 part informative video series for social media distribution, educating prospective clients on how to make video content.

– Writing and editing scripts for each video, and generating animation and graphic ideas to be implemented in editi           

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

Outputs – 8 part video series currently in post-production ready to be released to social media channels to drive new client engagement.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

Having never managed a project from idea to completion, this internship gave me the chance to have complete ownership and accountability over the product and its outcome. I was tasked with writing the script for each video idea based on an initial briefing with my manager, and from there I generated the animations and gestures to be incorporated during filming. This meant that I had the freedom to be creative with the way in which the message was delivered, and as a result each video was successfully filmed and delivered on time each week, and with the creative flare that was needed in order to engage with the audience.

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

Having never been particularly strong with writing, especially to an audience, it was difficult to understand who the audience was and what tone of voice would work best when trying to talk directly to them. It was often out of my comfort zone to think about an audience that I was not directly familiar with. It was also difficult to time manage, as so much had to be done in one day – having a briefing, then writing and editing a script, and then filming the actual footage. However with the help of my team with idea generation and second eye to look over what was written, we were able to successfully achieve all that we needed to in the allocated time frames.

Skills Learnt 

  • Problem Solving
  • Teamwork and Collaboration
  • Leadership
  • Focus on goals and outcomes
  • Ability to work under pressure

Attributes Developed 

  • Researching
  • Creative thinking
  • Independence
  • Logical thinking
  • Motivation

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

“Overall a really great experience that allowed me to try something new and develop existing skills. I was able to meet like-minded and passionate people who taught me valuable skills and will be connections for my future career. I was offered an extension on my internship which I took up and thoroughly enjoyed.”

Student Case Study: Regency Wines 

Name of Student:  Reubin Bhogal 

Degree Subject: BSC Business Economics WIE

Job Title:  Graphic Designer

Company Name: Regency Wines

Type of Internship:  Access to Internships (A2I), Student Business Partnerships (SBPs)

Description of Company: Regency Wines is a family-owned regional wine merchant dedicated to sourcing and supplying wines and spirits to the licensed trade. We are proud to be different to most drinks companies. We are a specialist wine and spirit merchant, with a passion for great customer service.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Creating and preparing a brochure for Regency Wines to advertise their available spirits to their clients.      

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

Designed guidelines and master pages for the brochure including guidance on the fonts, layout, and colours in and InDesign document.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

Regency Wine wanted a professional but engaging design to promote their spirits to clients – I was therefore asked to conceptualise and explore design ideas for the brochure. I collected and asked relevant questions to my boss and the team to uncover the theme and design style that may be most appropriate for the use-case before presenting back multiple ideas to the team – iterating on these designs after reviewing feedback. As a result we were able to land on a design that was appropriate for the business and all team members could agree on.

Skills Learnt 

  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Negotiation
  • Focus on goals and outcomes
  • Ability to work under pressure

Attributes Developed 

  • Researching
  • Creative thinking
  • Customer Service
  • Confidence
  • Professionalism

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

“My internship at Regency Wines involved conceptualising and designing a brochure for the company to advertise their spirits to prospective clients. The experience involved providing my insights and advice regarding appropriate design practice before delivering design concepts for the team to consider. This then translated into setting up an InDesign document to effectively present and highlight Regency’s products.”