At Step, we are often asked by businesses where we feel students and graduates can add value and help them. There is sometimes a misapprehension that they will require constant supervision, and will not contribute significantly in return.
However, many of our students and graduates have completed valuable and substantial projects through 8-12 week internships; these are often related to a piece of work that permanent members of staff don’t have time (or in some cases the skills and knowledge) to do.
In Spring 2017 I published a blog with some examples showing the breadth and diversity of what Step interns and placement students have undertaken and achieved, primarily in a small business setting – across a wide range of industry sectors, in locations across the UK.
We have organised many more internships in the meantime, so I felt it was time for an update. Below are some examples:
- Business support: The Business Manager of a national Training Provider was looking for help across a variety of areas in their Yorkshire head office, including accounts, product development, marketing and quality management. A Business Management graduate with varied skills was taken on- and did so well that a permanent role was created for her.
- Data Analysis: A shipping business from Suffolk took on an Economics graduate to work on a project to review customer related data analytics to see if there was a better way to use the information to help improve their service to customers, and ensure that they were making the most of these relationships.
- Research and Investigation: Graduates with a variety of degrees including Law, Civil Engineering and Geography were taken on by a Shropshire consultancy to use specialist GIS Software, undertake research and investigation into land ownership, and to prepare Compulsory Purchase Orders.
- Internal Communications: A Surrey based multinational logistics services organisation took on a Psychology graduate, who was responsible for producing press releases, weekly newsletters and case studies, and the analysis of communications including producing video content and updating the company’s intranet.
- E-commerce Marketing: A luxury goods retailer from London appointed a Marketing graduate to help with e-commerce website management, including online marketing projects and selecting and presenting images of the products.
- Engineering: A West-Midlands company was given a large project of work by one of their clients; they took on a Mechanical engineering graduate to help. The graduate interacted with the customer, and generated ideas into a working prototype and subsequently into a working machine.
- Event Management: A London based membership body with over 5,000 members hosted a conference at Olympia; an Events graduate was taken on to help with the planning and organisation, and took the lead in key areas.
Do you have a project that could perhaps work for an internship, maybe a piece of work that needs doing but you haven’t had the resources or time? Or a permanent opportunity that could be suitable for a graduate? Please get in touch to discuss further: 0115 871 8740 or nottingham@step.org.uk