Proxama's Internship Experience

Proxama obviously has a strategy when it comes to recruiting local talent. Like all successful technology companies, they realise that securing the best graduates is all about timing and committing to investing early in its people.

Back in May 2012, Proxama contacted the Careers Centre at UEA in search of students who were due to graduate that summer; they were getting ahead of the game. They invited applications for several internships including Business Analysts and a Systems Architect who deal with designing systems from different perspectives. Analysts look at business requirements and user journeys, as well as being involved with the management of the projects, whereas Architects look more at the system integration at a technical level.

Fortunately, the UEA had launched its Graduate Internship Programme just a few months before and the wheels were set in motion for what turned out to be a text book version of how paid internships can provide excellent benefits to both the Company and Graduate.

It would also be easy to assume that Proxama were only interested in technology graduates but the role of the Business Analyst required other skill sets which, if backed up with an interest in technology, could be open to graduates from other disciplines. The acknowledgement of the value of a cross-discipline approach and the significance of transferable skills is another key to the success of this particular case study.

The Internship team set about advertising through their network of registrants and after a series of interviews in July, Proxama had selected the graduates they wanted to take part in the 12 week Programme. Meanwhile, the process proved so easy, they also added a Marketing opportunity to the mix and recruited for that also!

The successful candidates were:

• Jonathan, Accounting and Finance BSc graduate from Norwich Business School who took the Business Analyst role
• Jennie won the Systems Architect position. She is a BSc Computer Graphics graduate from the School of Computing Sciences
• MSc Brand Leadership graduate Lenora, also from Norwich Business School, secured the Marketing internship

We are now thrilled to announce that all three graduates, with support from Proxama, have worked incredibly hard and delivered results such that they have been offered permanent full-time contracts.

In a climate where many organisations are reluctant to invest in young people this is a real success story. It allowed focussed and talented graduates the space to prove themselves and start their career in earnest.

Holly's Marketing Internship with Anglia DNA Services

My internship in marketing with Anglia DNA Services has provided me with a great foundation to build my professional career upon. I have been taught the necessary skills to complete day-to-day tasks, and learnt the basics on how to advertise, market and sell a product. I have been given the responsibility of organising and structuring my working day as I see fit, and provided with the freedom to use my own creativity within my work.

The internship has taken me to conferences around the country, at which the company meet and greet their existing and potential legal clients, and taught me how to speak confidently and knowledgably about our products. I have been given an active role in determining how to market the company's high street paternity test, and been fully responsible for administering a list of 1000 potential clients across the UK who may use the company's new drug and alcohol testing service.

On the whole, the internship has been a challenging and enjoyable experience, and I look forward to continuing to work in the Anglia DNA Services marketing team as a Business Development Executive.

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

I thought it was important to write a final blog to sum up my internship here at the careers department at the UEA. It has been an interesting 12 weeks and I am so grateful for all the opportunities I have been given to develop my skills and grow as a person.

I am pleased to say that all my hard work has paid off and I have been lucky enough to secure a further contract with the Careers Team – to continue as an Events Assistant for another 12 weeks. This means I will move over to the Careers Centre and become more focused on providing support for all the events that Careers Advisors, schools and external organisations want to run. I will need to draw on the experience that I have gained in the internship but also continue to learn from colleagues and through practice to fully excel in the role.

This has meant that the last couple of weeks have been a transitioning period into the new role. I have slowly been taking on more responsibilities from the Events Team and fewer from the Enterprise and Employability Team. I booked my first rooms and published my first events on the employability system this week. I also pushed on with the development of a process document to help the team fully understand how we would go about commissioning events in the future. I pulled together a couple of different research documents and reported back to senior managers who are now looking to my work to shape their strategies moving forward.

I just want to finish by saying a huge thank you to everyone here at the Careers Team for making me feel so welcome and valued. The Internship Team have been a solid support over the 12 week period and I want to thank them for allowing me to participate on such a worthwhile programme. I would recommend a UEA graduate internship to anyone needing to make that jump from education to employment – it gives you the support you need to grow your confidence while helping to build yourself a career path that suits you.

Emma's Product Compliance Internship with Stephar UK -- Week 1

Having just completed one week of my internship at Stephar (UK) Ltd I thought it was high time to reflect and let you all you interested ones know how it’s going.

Firstly there is something I must confess. I didn’t go to UEA! Phew. That feels a lot better. I went to sunny Brighton. Brighton has a lot going for itself; a pub on every street corner, a Taj Mahal imitation, and the Green Party. However it does not have sandy beaches, castles or the UEA Graduate Internship programme! And this is why I am in Great Yarmouth right now, not Brighton.

I am interning at Stephar (UK) Ltd. They are a pharmaceutical supplier, who also import and repackage products from Europe. It is on quite a large site in Great Yarmouth, where in its glory days employed over sixty, now there is a dedicated team of around fifteen. Although there are a few empty rooms around the place, and it is chilly in the production areas, I have been made very welcome here by the boss and team.

I have been exposed to an interesting and essential side of the business; liaising with the Medicines and Healthcare Regulations Agency. This week I have initiated the submissions of three medicine information packs for review. I have been taught how to handle the MHRA portal, where all UK companies with a medicinal licence go to apply for new licences, renewals, amendments and so on. I have also been entrusted with the organisation of the current licenses, and ensuring all information and literature is up to date.

I am so pleased that I got this opportunity. I feel very settled, comfortable and respected here. The work and responsibility I have is of a much higher calibre than any temping job and I am looking forward to what next week may bring!

Chris' Business Management Internship with Breckland Council -- Midway Point

Everyone at Breckland council has made me feel very welcome and in the past few weeks I've been involved in a great range of stuff including researching for and writing parts of an £8million project bid. I've also helped conduct environmental reports of local businesses and been put in charge of delivering an energy reduction initative; as well as the usual administration, report reviewing and filing you'd expect when working for a council. It's been a great experience so far, I just hope I can learn as much in the next 5 weeks as I have in the first!