Aaron's Internship Working on Microbial Remediation of Biomass Wastewater -- First Two Weeks

So, what do you do after your degree? You’ve worked hard, you got the result you were aiming for (fingers crossed), and then – what? Some people go straight into graduate careers or further study, others have different but equally valid ambitions to travel, or just finally start making some money. Although there’s nothing wrong with post-uni decisiveness, I found myself taking a more cautious approach; I ultimately want to take up further study but I’m not sure when, where, or even what specific subject I want to go for! So in my attempt to toe the line between a broad set of potential options and something worthwhile on my CV, I came across this internship!

Now, I don’t think this applies to all subjects but university-based graduate internships in the sciences are fairly unusual: opportunities to gain experience outside of a science degree typically occur during a year in industry or a summer placement. Both of these are excellent opportunities, but I think a lot of undergrads would pursue them more actively were they aware that (for many established programs at least) the summer between second and third year are the last chance to gain this sort of experience. Despite getting a decent degree it’s been tough going; I’ve been to several interviews for jobs I’m looking to for experience, and been subsequently turned down because of my lack of experience! It can feel like a bit of a catch-22 at times, but an internship provides a great solution for both sides of the employment coin: you gain solid experience, a valuable insight into a working environment and hopefully a bit of cash, while your employer can reap the benefits of your unbridled enthusiasm without having to commit to a salaried contract (which in this current economic climate are not always an attractive option).

I’ve agreed to blog about my internship experience in order to provide a first-hand account of what it’s like to be a graduate intern. I’m working in science (specifically in environmental microbiology) so this may be somewhat tilted towards the more scientific end of the internship spectrum, but never fear: I’m going to try my best to discuss things in general terms so any prospective intern can take something away from it. At least, that’s the idea.

The first thing I’ve been asked to do by the UEA Internship Programme Team (who, by the way, are excellent, efficient, lovely and not at all going to read this) is answer a quick Q&A about my first week as an intern. Unfortunately, I’ve been so busy enjoying myself that I’ve only now got round to answering them, at the end of my first fortnight.

How did you feel about the internship leading up to the start?

The time between me applying for the internship and being offered the position was pretty short, so I didn’t have a chance to build up too much anxiety. I thought the subject matter was interesting and knew that it would be beneficial for me in terms of my CV and confirming (or questioning) my desire to choose a path of further study and research, but like most employed situations I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of day-to-day responsibilities, colleagues and the like. So I’d say I was expectant, but not worried. More excited!

What was your first day like?

Quite leisurely, actually, though I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say that! I met the team I’d be working with in the School of Biological Sciences and UEA’s biomass plant facility, and we talked over a coffee about what my role was going to be during the 8 weeks.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much free rein I was to be given; this was a real research process that I was being a part of, exactly what I wanted. I’d definitely advise anybody looking to do an internship (science or otherwise) to look for one where you’re given a decent amount of creative control and input. Not only does it look better on your CV, it’s also a lot more fun.

What have you been up to in your first two weeks?

I’ve been doing all sorts of experiments to get some helpful bugs to grow in my power plant wastewater samples (bioreactors are excellent – think mad scientist meets meccano), and I’ve also been learning how a working lab operates. Whereas the former has been very interesting indeed, I’d say that the latter is certainly more transferable when it comes to my future career. Workplace experience is a skill in itself and very important too, especially if it’s in the same or a similar field to the one you’re doing an internship in.

Has your experience of your first two weeks been what you expected?

Not really, but then I wasn’t sure what to expect. I think the most notable thing that differed from my expectations was my relative independence; you’re not a student any more so other people are trusting you to be responsible, as you would be in a contracted job. That’s certainly not to say I haven’t received generous amounts of help and instruction; the specialised nature of scientific work means a lot of it requires figuring out before you charge in. I’m sure other internship and placement schemes are a lot more structured, but I think if you’re up to it a more challenging and responsible role can be much more rewarding.

What have you enjoyed the most about your first two weeks?

Apart from fiddling around with the bioreactor, a real highlight today was getting some results! The first big development was on Thursday this week; we got some bacterial growth under certain conditions. This has produced a whole lot of new work to be done, but it’s a positive step towards a real contribution to the university. That’s what makes this internship really worthwhile, I think; knowing what you’re doing could make a difference. I’d definitely recommend it.

How do you think the next few weeks will be?

As I said above, the developments this week have definitely opened up a lot of avenues and I’m certain the next few weeks (and the rest of the internship, in fact) will be extremely busy. But I’m looking forward to it; I’m going to be learning some new techniques next week to get some good data and fill in some important pieces of the puzzle this project is proving to be. But you’ll have to wait until my next post in a fortnight’s time to hear about that.

Rebecca's Events Evaluation Internship with the Student Enterprise & Employability Development Team, UEA -- Week 4

The weeks are going by so quickly. I have just finished my busiest to date, with both the Careers Fair and the Start Up Bus happening this last week. The beginning of the week saw a progress meeting where I discussed what I had achieved so far and was given a long list of new tasks to work on. These included building application forms for student enterprise funding, writing entries for the UEA student blog and putting together a folder of all up to date feedback forms that I have built so far (both online and paper versions) – this turned out to be quite a lot!

On Tuesday I had a training session on how to build the new Careers and Employability vario stand for the careers fair. It felt like one of those team building exercises at assessment centres where you have to work together to achieve an objective. We built it successfully and felt prepared to tackle the same task the following morning for the fair itself.

On the morning of the Careers Fair we successfully built the stand once more and I went on to help with the set up of the C&E table and other employer stands. I helped to direct employers to their stands and answered queries they had. Other than a few issues with IT and wifi connections the fair was set up on time and employers seemed content (although I have yet to check the feedback!). Throughout the event itself I was gathering student feedback and I got all my forms filled out – I was later told this was the most feedback ever to be taken from a careers event!

On Thursday I was given sole responsibility for the professional design and printing of the Start Up Bus feedback forms and took these along to the event. I based my designs on previous forms I had seen and used appropriate logos and descriptive text. The bus was amazing! It was filled with TV’s, computers and couches – not to mention all the local business advisors and entrepreneurs that had hopped on to talk to students about start up ideas. It was a new and exciting event for all the team and I look forward to reading the feedback I collected.

All in all a busy but rewarding week – now I get to look forward to inputting all the feedback I have collected!

Rebecca's Events Evaluation Internship with the Student Enterprise & Employability Team, UEA -- Week 3

Last week was filled with variety and creativity. I helped at the Teaching Fair on Monday and assisted in setting up, replenishing food trays, collecting tickets and building the employer packs with my newly designed feedback forms. The day was busy and the tasks straight forward but this helps understand the importance of everyone pulling together and remaining flexible during the event itself so that it runs smoothly. I also manned the Careers & Employability welcome stand for a large portion of the event and spoke about the different services we offer.  Following the event, I constructed an email to all PGCE students and attached an online version of the student feedback survey I had built. I took the opportunity to get creative and import logos and colour schemes to make it as professional as possible. This got approved and was sent out 3 days after the fair. Although I think incentives are needed to encourage more responses I was pleased to have 37 replies by Friday morning.

Also this week, I was reworking my Careers Services forms – making them more specific to each service, whether it be a workshop, a coaching session or a mentoring relationship. These will be sent off for approval early next week.

On Thursday I produced an up to date poster round write up following my trip around campus the previous week – and also started analysis on the teaching fair feedback from employers. According to the team the structure of my analysis with tables and graphs has not been produced before. The idea is that with the help of others on the team we can begin to develop my structure into a report that can be used to measure the success of each event. The fact that my team are so open to change and willing to listen and develop my ideas is refreshing and exciting and it is giving me the confidence and skills I need to launch my career.

Ben's 12 week Internship with Adnams

So 12 weeks are finally up! It would have been good to be able to keep a more regular blog, however when in the "real world" (post-student life) you end up having a lot less time to yourself. I had not gone in to this internship unprepared however as I had been in this situation but a couple of years ago as part of my degree. That was for a whole year. During that time I learnt many business skills, which soon started flooding back. It was good however to have the previous experience, as not only do you feel less like the black sheep amongst the office, but I can tell you know experience is invaluable these days as I overheard my manager say it was my previous experience that got me this internship.

Being too busy is not exactly the end of the world, as the last thing you want from an internship is to sit there most days twiddling your thumbs because the company have not planned what you are to do. This was not the case for Adnams as I had been hired to assist in the completion of a very specific project they were undertaking. It was described to me at the interview as a research position into collating all the data needed to calculate a carbon footprint Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for all their bottled beers. Not to steal a well-known wood preservatives motto but "I did exactly what it said on the tin". I applied for this internship because of my brand new knowledge from my Environmental Sciences degree and my similar experiences from my year in industry. It sounded like a great three months experience.

I was based in Southwold at their, moderately recent, energy efficient brewery and worked closely with the Head Brewer. I started off my role with Adnams, getting to grips with the British Standards specifications that surrounded the production a carbon LCA for beer. I was also working closely with Adapt Low Carbon Group at UEA who had done previous work with Adnams. Once my head was screwed on tightly with what my role was I began undertaking, what ended up being a large lump of my placement, data collection from the brewing stage of the lifecycle. This included taking constant energy readings (electricity, gas, water etc.) and converting these into usage. I was often buried in Microsoft Excel producing spread sheets of data which are eventually to be used in a tool that converts such data to carbon dioxide equivalents released to the atmosphere. This may sound like a menial task but it turns out companies most likely won’t have the data you need in the forms you need it in, so was quite a challenge in the end. Aside from this main focus I also had to collect data from across the whole lifecycle of an Adnams beer. This included talking to the farmers, who grow the raw ingredients (identifying information such as amount of fertilizer used) all the way through to the ‘use phase’ which included identifying the average length of time a user refrigerated the beer before use.

The progression seemed a little slow at start but then again as most of you will know, from a dissertation, the data collection phase can take a lot longer than anticipated. I soon got into it and with concise work with others the project and its outcomes were soon in full swing. I must admit now however, I have been holding back on a vital bit of information; which is that the task in hand was not completed within my internship period. This whole process was a steep learning curve for both me and Adnams as they did not know whether such a project would take one month or one year. Because of this they were generally happy with my progress as long as progression could be seen. When it came to the end of my 12 weeks there had been speculation on my position, and sure enough, every cloud has a silver lining and this was no different, for they have just offered me an extended contract to continue with the project (on a much better salary may I add).

This internship was really suited to a recent graduate as it soon became clear of the similarities between it and a final year dissertation. My internship was a highly valuable data collection period, with my next three months here suited to the results and discussion sections. This will include production of a report, analysis of results and future recommendations, including areas to focus on reducing emissions. Eventually the verified results will be published for the public to see. Who know maybe I’ll also be able to explore my interest within marketing when it comes to it.

I think all in all for my 12 weeks, the biggest skills I had to demonstrate was the ability to seamlessly integrate into the working life, which my year in industry certainly helped with. It means the people you work with can rely on you to be able to get on with your task in the knowledge that you know how to act and the skills to demonstrate. Knowledge in Microsoft Excel was also very useful for my role, and the confidence to talk to others. The internship programme has definitely got me up on my feet after graduation, and who knows may have even found me a career.

Kirstie's Social Media Marketing Internship with Norwich Business School, UEA -- Part 2

Well, it has been an entire month since I started! Where HAS the time gone?

Oh yes – channeled into social media, meetings, brainstorming, emails, writing, making contacts, blood, sweat and tears! But the learning experience has been SO invaluable!

Read on at http://ueanbs.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/social-media-marketing-intern-second-instalment/

Rebecca's Events Evaluation Internship with the Student Enterprise & Employability Team, UEA -- Week 2

Another week is over. My events feedback forms have been given the go ahead to be used at the Careers Fair which I am very excited about. However, after liaising with the Careers Advisers on my other questionnaires it became clear that I now need to go back to the drawing board and design a series of different forms – so next week will certainly be busy! I am learning that with this particular project it is going to be difficult to please everyone and compromises will have to be made if a new evaluation system is to be adopted – but this is a challenge I willingly accept!

I have also been doing two research projects this week. The first of which was to find out about start up funding in Norfolk and the second was to investigate the feasibility of implementing an SMS feedback system.  I have been left to my own devices in how I go about this research so my motivation and time management skills have been important.

In between research I have also been analysing data from the Jobs and Volunteering Fair and bravely throwing myself into poster rounds of campus. This involved taking publicity materials to all the schools on site for the up and coming events. This certainly helped me in getting to know campus better! I have also helped provide inspiration for a new brand name for an up and coming internship programme – something I particularly enjoyed doing as I love the creativity it involves – I just need to build up the confidence in my ideas - but a career in Marketing perhaps!?

Jennie's Junior Developer Internship with Proxama

Although my degree has given me an education in Computer Science it has not given me any experience using it in the real world. Looking for jobs, I found that they all wanted people with experience. Even the graduate jobs required the applicant to take some form of test to demonstrate their abilities which were often outside the scope of my degree. So when I came across the idea of doing an internship I thought it would be an excellent way to get that much needed experience.

Proxama are a great company to work for. Everyone is very welcoming and happy to give advice when it’s needed. I started working on the R&D (research and development) team as a junior developer with three other interns, one other developer and two business analysts. We were given a basic induction on Proxama, the history of the company and where it’s going and then we were given individual training on the aspects we were working on. I started learning two new programming languages and we were given the time we needed to do tutorials and research before we started working with them.

The work is challenging and fast paced. Working in R&D often means starting projects, working hard on a concept, but then having to move onto something else before it’s finished. We often pause our work to help other teams when they needed help with projects for clients.

I feel very privileged to have been able to take part in this internship. I would recommend doing it to anyone as it’s a fantastic way to get experience and learn skills and practices in the work place that you just don’t learn in your degree. It’s a lot of hard work and we were all thrown in at the deep end, but it’s been a wonderful experience and I am very happy to say I have been offered a permanent job here at Proxama. Counting the internship, and thanks to it, I was able to get into paid employment, in the area I studied in my degree, ten days after getting my results.

Rebecca's Events Evaluation Internship with the Student Enterprise & Employability Development Team, UEA -- Week 1

I have just completed my first full week as the new Events Evaluation intern here at the university. There has been a lot going on and I am learning new things every day. The aim of my project is to design a new evaluation system for careers services and events.  This involves liaising with many different members of staff, analysing the current system and coming up with fresh ideas and improvements. The challenge is ensuring that the right data is captured in the most succinct way.

Also this week I had the opportunity to attend my first careers event here at the UEA. I threw myself into lots of different tasks to ensure the venue was ready by 10am. My role for the day was collecting data with a newly designed survey (unfortunately not one I had designed – but this should be soon I hope!).  Approaching students with surveys was initially a daunting prospect for me. However, with the help of a trendy Ipad, a friendly smile and a heap of energy it was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my internship so far. I was able to build up my confidence, interact with the students during the event itself and ultimately judge their reactions. This has given me more ideas for my own surveys and has helped put my evaluation system into context.

I also had the chance to attend an employers networking event. I stayed after business hours to register employers and give out name tags and information packs. It was interesting to see the event from the employer’s perspective and once again it provided new ideas for my project.

This week has been a learning curve for me. The experiences have taught me that I am in my element when I can interact with people. Although I appreciate the need and importance for office work – this week has shown me that doing 9-5 in an office every day is not the job for me. I need to have opportunities to see the bigger picture to motivate me to continue working hard both inside and outside the office. A career in Events Management perhaps!?

Kirstie's Social Media Marketing Internship with Norwich Business School, UEA

How I managed to gain that most rare and coveted of graduate employment: The paid internship
Read more at http://ueanbs.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/how-i-came-to-be-an-intern-at-nbs/

Patrick's Internship with the School of Nursing Sciences, UEA -- Halfway point

I'm just past the halfway point in my internship and it's proving to be an interesting experience. I really enjoy interviewing key contacts, as well as attending meetings in order to gather further information. For example, this Friday I'm travelling to Cambridge to attend a meeting with some major health professionals in the field of dementia; I'll be given an opportunity to talk about my project and ask for their input. Due to my desk-based research, I'm aware of the hot topics at the moment and can offer my own views as well - despite not having previously studied in the field of health care.

I'm beginning to develop the structure of the report that is the purpose of this internship, and with all the information I've obtained it's a rather daunting prospect! However, it has the feel of a university essay in the way that I'm drawing on many sources and references - so I can use my experiences of this to create a useful and accurate report.

Sophie's Communications and Marketing Internship with Liftshare -- halfway point

I began my internship at liftshare on the 20th August 2012 and am due to finish my 12 week period on the 9th November 2012, so I’m just over half-way in at the moment. I was attracted to the position within liftshare (a car-sharing company based in Attleborough) because it would involve me learning skills I have never thought about before, and experiencing a variety of different tasks over the 3 months.

Already I have contacted over 30 large environmental organisations including WWF Earth Hour, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Freeconomy, Freecycle and Do the Green Thing in my capacity as Marketing and Communications Intern at liftshare. I have written copy for articles to be sent to these ‘big names’ and tweets and Facebook content too. I have developed friendly relationships with many of them too. In addition I have composed guest blogs for a number of websites which have been published and helped with a press release. Within the company I am also writing blogs for our own site liftshare.com which the public will be able to view. The topics are varied and the length of each one varies too!

Within the first week I was inundated with meetings at the company (which is a small collective of around 20 staff) and I took many notes. I am currently organising the work social for liftshare Week which is 1st-5th October and the big publicity event that I have been helping the Communications and PR manager with for the majority of my time there. I am hoping everybody enjoys it!

Last week I applied for the PEA Business Awards and nominated liftshare under the two categories of ‘Social Enterprise’ and ‘Transport’. I am also currently working on two statistics based projects, one of which is almost complete and the other, a work in progress! I am managing the re-design of a series of monitoring pages on the liftshare website so that customers with car-share schemes can view their financial and environmental savings more easily. To do this I am liaising with the IT department on how best to approach the technical side of things!

Finally, I am keeping an eye on our liftshare Week targets and issuing certificates which I helped design (alongside IT) to those scheme managers who do particularly well in signing employees up to car-sharing in the first week of October.

It has been very intense so far, with not much time to stop really! I work an 8 ½ hour day on a 9-5.30pm shift, Monday to Thursday and commute the 20 or so miles to Attleborough each day (rather ironically I don’t have a car). It is very tiring, but it is totally new and I think I am doing quite well so far...