Alisha is a recent Business management graduate from the University of Derby who completed an internship here at Step. In this blog, she talks about her experience at Step.
I learned about the opportunity for an internship at Step through my university Job board and it was what I was looking for, experience in recruitment. I was in my final year at university and I had not had relevant work experience in HR. I started looking for internships that would allow me to experience working life and apply the skills I learned at university. The role offered me exactly what I wanted: an opportunity to enhance my knowledge and experience before I graduated and started looking for a graduate opportunity.
My internship experience at Step was a short but enriching experience. The internship has been wonderful and has provided me with experience far more than I was hoping for. The role itself was varied so it equipped me with tons of valuable skills and knowledge. The application process was quite simple, setting up the candidate profile took time, but it made me realise why I wanted this internship. The interview with Tamsin went very smooth. She wanted me to clearly understand what working in recruitment meant and it was very helpful.
The first few days were quite laid back and spent capturing information. I started providing support on a major campaign, the Speaker’s Parliamentary Placement Scheme. I worked alongside Tamsin to compile a report by creating pivot tables and charts. I enjoyed the variety of tasks, it varied from managing Step’s webpage and social media pages to updating candidate register. I also worked alongside Tamsin to compile a report on the diversity data.
Working with the team was definitely the best part of my internship. This was because, regardless of the workload, the team would help each other and knew how to have a laugh every now and then. The Step Team was very open and accommodating and always ready to answer my questions. Tamsin showed me how to browse job boards for potential candidates, Abby helped me settle in by explaining the portal and giving me tips, Step provided me with helpful advice on writing job descriptions. We had Steve, the cat, walk inside the office and sniff around (Steve, the cat is our special team member).
Commuting from Derby was the major issue I faced in the first week, as I did not know the bus routes, but I soon overcame that. I had to face some personal issues, but the staff were very considerate and understanding which I am grateful for.
I feel like I have learned practical skills, and what goes on the other side of recruitment. Having worked within an amazing team, my time at Step has gone past quick and I am taking away knowledge and skills that will help me build my future career.
Alisha