Hi, I’m Chaeyeon. During my second year studying BSc Psychology, I completed an SME Internship as a Content Intern at Learning with Parents. They are an education charity, empowering families, schools, and communities to have enjoyable home-learning facilitated by parental engagement.
Parental engagement, involving parents to support child-led learning activities, can be promoted to families of different shapes, sizes, and socioeconomic backgrounds to tackle educational inequality that is largely driven by early provision.
Graduate Recruitment Manager, Zoe Reid and Alexander Gower, a partner at Osborne Clarke (a law firm in Bristol) gave students an insight into how to navigate the legal career as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) students. Here is their advice to students in the Faculties of Engineering, Life Sciences and Science who are interested in a career in the legal sector.
At this time of year, you might be thinking about how to make the most of your summer break. It can be an ideal time to get work experience before the next academic year begins.
Work experience not only looks good on your CV or LinkedIn profile, it can also help you:
Gain a competitive edge when applying for graduate jobs or further study. It can also be a requirement for some careers.
Develop skills and confidence, gain insights, and build your professional network.
Decide whether a career area is right for you.
But where to start? It may feel like many internship deadlines have passed. Or perhaps you want to know: “how am I supposed to get experience without previous experience?” It can feel like employers ask for lots of skills and experiences to apply for their internships.
The IKEEP programme offers students the opportunity to gain intrapreneurial training and engage with industry on knowledge exchange projects through a paid team placement with an SME.
Three undergraduates, Jack, (Economics and Management), Olivia (History and Spanish) and Kristina (Politics) recently completed one of our projects with Bristol Hub.
We spoke to them about what they have gained from the experience.
David Simkins is a 2023 MA Music with Innovation graduate with a developing career in music and media.
Between working at a local record label alongside his studies, conducting student orchestras and scoring soundtracks for media projects, (including two feature films and a short film), being mentored by the Head of Marketing at Sony Music’s Columbia Records and interning at SoundCloud, David (pictured right) has been busy in the past 4 years!
Drawing on his experience with soundtracks, tech, and client management, David is pursuing a music career in creative sync and marketing while working to improve industry transparency, education, and inclusivity, especially for the LGBTQIA+ community.
We caught up with David about how his extracurricular activities throughout his degree helped him get to where he is:
Lots of social science students are looking for work experience but are struggling to find something that’s right for them. If you’re searching for valuable work experience to help you in your career plans, here are some ideas to help you in your search.
Top tips from the public sector
To find out more about work experience in the public sector, I spoke to James Darley from Transform Society. He was clear that there are often plenty of opportunities to get work experience in the public sector, it just requires some research to find them.
Councils can advertise opportunities for local students on their website, so it’s worth signing up to their jobs mailing lists. Bristol City, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire are our local councils.
Are you an undergraduate looking for laboratory internships?
Finding lab internships for the first time can be confusing, you may be unsure how to start and feel a little overwhelmed. We’ve taken the opportunity to break this down and share some insights from Carol Huang, a UoB MSci Plant Science student, who has successfully gained opportunities within the UK and Europe.
When should I apply?
Peak time is November to January ready for a summer start (typically July – September)
Some will be available later in the year (but usually only accessible via supervisors who have secured funding)
Generally, there’s two routes to getting a lab internship for the summer
Hello! My name is Audrey and in my first year studying Economics and Maths, I completed an internship at Pointer Consultancy Group.
Pointer is a small but growing consulting company based in Bristol. It focuses mainly on project, bid, and change management but has begun offering sustainability consulting to help companies achieve their environmental, social and governance goals.
I worked at Pointer part-time during term time from February until June, completing 10-12 hours per week, mostly virtually from home but also coming into the office for a few hours each week.
My role
I was given the task of creating a tool in Excel to help guide clients through the Business Impact Assessment, which is the first step towards becoming a certified Benefit Corporation (B Corp). I worked mostly with one person, Ben, during the internship but frequently would present what I had done to other employees and directors at Pointer.
Challenges and skills I gained
Time management: The greatest challenge of this internship was learning to manage my time effectively, especially since I was working during term time.Pointer was very supportive and flexible, being happy to let me do more or less each week depending on the intensity of assignments I had due, as well as letting me take a few weeks’ break to complete my exams.
Analytical skills: Another challenge I had was learning to analyse a problem I was facing in the development of the tool and decide which questions were the most important to ask. Everybody at Pointer was always happy to help guide me but were often very busy, so it was important for me to ask precise questions and learn to take initiative.
This experience taught me to be more organised, solve problems efficiently and communicate well with my colleagues. Not to mention my skills in Microsoft Excel, which I greatly improved.
Real-world experience: I also learned a lot about consulting and how a small company operates. I had the chance to attend the Bristol Sustainable Business Festival which showed me the importance of networking and making personal connections to create opportunities for work and growth.
I had a great time during my internship. I loved working with everyone at Pointer and learned so much about the company, industry, and myself. This experience made me more certain of my desire to enter the field of sustainability.
Advice
I would advise anyone looking to take on an intern role with an SME to take the time to first read the job description in detail and the SME Internship Scheme Guide and to tailor your cover letter and your CV to include relevant information for the job.
Take the time to read around the company and industry so you can enter an interview with confidence, already have some knowledge of the job, and can ask interesting questions.
During an internship, always communicate with the company any worries you might have about the workload or responsibilities while you are working there, and they will be happy to listen and help.
I wish you all the best in applying for internships and hope you have a great time!
If you have any questions about the scheme, writing your application, or anything else relating to careers you can speak to us on live chat, or pop into 5 Tyndall Avenue from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4.30 pm during term time.
