Leigh's Customer Service & Marketing Internship with Salesupply Diary -- End of Week One

The Intern Diaries

Why an Internship?

I was one of a generation who was promised that going to university would equal guaranteed employment and a bigger salary. However, after graduating I found this not to be true. If you’ve found yourself struggling to find work in your desired career post-university you are certainly not alone. I, like many others, seem to be hearing the same thing “You have a clear passion for the sector, but not enough experience”.

After a change of heart ¾ of the way through my teacher training course, I found myself at square one again. I knew I wanted to apply my creativity in some way and there are lots of jobs out there that will allow you to do this. I’m quite good with words and social media savvy, so I started to look at jobs in the media. I read hundreds of articles on how to make myself stand out from the crowd and I started to apply all of the advice: I started a blog- which has led to outside writing opportunities, I have grown my social media presence- making sure there was nothing I wouldn’t want a potential employer to see; following the accounts of all the right people in the same industry; tweeting about things that were important to me and generally making myself known, I linked my social media accounts to my CV and I had numerous people look over my CV for feedback. I had no problem getting interviews. I was invited to some pretty impressive ones at that; from a columnist at a local newspaper in Brighton, to an Account Executive at and advertising agency. Many of the interviews seemed to go well, most invited me back for second interviews, all of them replied with the same thing: “We really liked you, but we feel you don’t have enough experience for the position.”

After countless rejections I considered giving up. Being unemployed can have a massive affect on your confidence and self worth. I soon started to avoid answering the phone or the door during the daytime, as I didn’t want anyone to know I didn’t have a job, and I stopped going out because I was scared of the dreaded questions like  “How is the job search going”. It was by chance that I came across the UEA’s Internship Programme via twitter (see how following the right people can come in handy?!) You may have noticed that internships around this region are very few and far between, and most of the few offered are unpaid (something which I know I can’t afford to do because I have bills to pay, an overdraft and travelling expenses to cover).

Internships have raised a lot of questions recently; is it fair to allow people to work for free? Are unpaid internships only for a privileged few who can afford to work for free? Will I actually get the experience I need during my internship, instead of being a general dogsbody and tea lady? I know these were all questions that worried me. UEA’s scheme offers a wage and a beneficial opportunity for both host and intern. Acting as a go between, if there were to be any concerns you can rest in the knowledge that you can talk to the UEA complete confidentiality. This means the above concerns are non-existent, which is why an internship through the UEA is worth going for. They offer a range of paid opportunities (so you can get to work on paying that overdraft off and still have a social life) which in turn will offer the much needed experience you need to get your foot on the career ladder. And who knows, some internships even lead to full time employment.

Week 1

Before Christmas I managed to secure a 12 week internship with Sale Supply. A global e-business that allows companies to expand their international growth quickly through a wide range of solutions such as research and strategy, effective localisation of web shops; traffic generation and brand management, and complete operational support. Sale Supply uses a wide range of advance systems such as CMS, VMWare and Google Dropbox- the very systems that had meant I wasn’t offered jobs due to my “lack of experience with them”. I was being instantly exposed to new skills I could add to my CV. I was free to ask as many questions as possible and given the opportunity to explore and get my head around them without the fear of messing up.

One of the best things about the way Sale Supply works with their interns is the open and honest communication they offer and ask for in return. They offer quick and positive feedback with suggestions on how your work can be improved. Upon discussions with the owner  I mentioned that I would be interested in assisting with designs of websites and brochures’  which led to me being given the opportunity to translate some work for two website pages for an existing client, and a leaflet with an up and coming one.

I feel for an internship to be the most beneficial that communication is key. The host needs to be open to allowing you to try and discuss what appeals to you, but the intern also needs to be forward in saying what it is they hope to gain from their placement. As I saw within my first week, by showing an interest in things I would like to try I was given opportunities.
 
I learnt so much in my first week and hope that I can continue to gain more knowledge over the coming months. For anyone starting their internships my only advice would be to ask lots of questions and show an active interest in any project you would like to be involved in- it really does pay off.