Intern Testimonials
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I'm really enjoying my time here on my internship, I've learned a lot and also got a lot of responsibility which I love! The people here are amazing, so I'm more than happy with this internship! I was going to focus only on marketing, but I've also started learning about account management, sales and design, so I'm pretty busy. Thank you!
”- Milosz Trzcinski
Sales & Marketing Assistant, University Of Warwick, January 2012 “
I studied English and History at the University of Sheffield and, like many humanities graduates, had very little idea what I was going to do next. In my final year, panic began to set in and I started applying to graduate schemes - in everything from accountancy to journalism, PR to fashion merchandising. After a few failed attempts at psychometric maths tests and several extremely uncomfortable interviews, it became apparent that I needed a bit more direction. I found that interviewers were looking for me to demonstrate a much deeper understanding of the roles and industries I was applying to work in, than I could get from merely reading up. Consequently, I started to look for work experience in the areas that interested me, with the aim of building up my CV with relevant skills, whilst learning whether or not that job was right for me.
I soon stumbled across Inspiring Interns, who had a range of exciting opportunities advertised on their website. I was immediately invited for an interview, where I recorded a very scary video CV and chatted to a careers advisor about the jobs I was considering. Within a couple of days I had two interviews lined up, one of which was with my current employer. My first interview at here went well and they asked me back for a second, before accepting me for an internship in their Sales and Marketing department. There was another intern who started at the same time as me which made things a lot less daunting, and we were able to work together on a lot of projects, sharing our experiences and helping each other with any challenges we faced.
My internship was full of interesting and varied tasks, which included doing research, contributing to client projects, attending meetings, and even arranging company socials. What was great about this internship was that I didn’t feel like just an intern but as a valued employee who could be trusted with significant pieces of work. By the end of my three month internship I had decided that I really liked working in marketing, loved the company and hoped that they would offer me a job. Luckily they decided to take me on as a Marketing Executive and I’m still enjoying my time here and learning lots of new things every day. I would encourage anyone finishing university to take on an internship, as having the experience on your CV will really set you apart, and it may even lead straight into a job.
”- Imogen Nash
Marketing Executive, University Of Sheffield, January 2012 “
I started to look for internship positions back in November. The main reason for doing this was because I found that I was having interviews on a weekly basis for permanent positions but losing out each time to other candidates with ‘more experience’. Whether this was the case or not it seemed to be every potential employee’s go to card.
A week after signing up with Inspiring Interns I was asked to come in for an interview in which I was told me that my project which I brought as proof of my abilities (a project in development outside university for my martial art) was too technically advanced and I may not feel challenged enough within the role. I took this on the chin as a positive; I thought that if I were to be turned down that would be the best way I could ask to be. If anything it also does support the fact that you will be given something which is worth doing; the employer would not want to lose you so they would most likely do their best to give you work which will keep you motivated to stay on.
The very next week I had an interview with a marketing consultancy with many high profile clients for the position of Junior Technical Consultant, which I’m doing to date. I think starting here has been a great opportunity for me – honestly! (I’d just graduated last year in Computer Systems Engineering from Brunel University in which I attained a 2.2 with honours- yeah, not a 2.1). I found that my interest in programing outside university set me apart from my peers and this was seen as a desired quality. I’m happy to say despite being- but a mere- intern I am sitting in board rooms with top heads of businesses travelling to client sites in Bristol and Coventry- you may not value this as much however I do, especially given I’ve been working here for 3 weeks. I’m surrounded by intellectual minds and people I know I can learn from. On top of all of that my food and transport costs are covered - I suppose I’m rather lucky that I don’t intern at a company that believes students only survive of compliments and work.
I have recommended doing an internship to friends which are finding it hard to get a job. It is incredibly hard to get an interview (now more than ever because you are not just competing with those who graduated this year) and even harder to get the position. Everybody expects you to have experience (2 years mind you) and if they don’t say it in the job spec, they will bring it up in the interview – trust me!
It could be said that from having an insight into my life that I may have been able to get a permanent job position if I carried on trying, and maybe your right. But here are the stats; I was spending 12 hours a day – Monday to Sunday excluding Saturday- job hunting for 3 of those hours and working on my project on the remaining 9 – with about 1-2 hours give or take eating, relaxing and streaming. My goal on a good day was to make sure that 20 new potential employees/agencies got an application/CV and cover letter/email in my interest for a position. On a bad day I would have done half of that number. In the average week I would have sent 80 – 90 emails and daily I would get (no word of a lie) anything from 20- 50 emails a day from different job listings through third party companies. All this produced a turnover of about 5 replies a week, with one being an interview and the rest being apologies for not being considered. That is a 5.6% reply and a 1.1% interview rate. Consider on the other hand that I signed up with Inspiring Interns, was offered an interview with the company in week 1, had an interview with company A in week 2, had an interview with company B on week 3 and was offered the position in the same week. Really it is a no brainer!
”- Samson Odelowo
Junior Technical Consultant, Brunel University, January 2012 “
I graduated from Sussex University in June 2012 with a first class honours degree in Psychology. I was both surprised and ecstatic when I received my results and realised the opportunities that this would lead to. I hadn’t applied for any graduate schemes whilst completing my degree as I was unsure as to what industry I wanted to work in therefore as soon as I finished my exams I knew I had to make decisions, and quick.
I hurriedly began to apply for jobs and after hours of speculative emails and applications I realised that it was going to be extremely difficult. However, only a week or so into my job hunt I came across Inspiring Interns, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to gain experience and I couldn’t believe my luck when Inspiring Interns called me within hours of my application. They invited me to come to their offices and to be prepared for a video CV. I was petrified!
However, on arriving at Inspiring Interns my nerves turned to excitement as the whole Inspiring Interns team were extremely welcoming and the video CV wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. Days later I was at my first interview with a marketing consultancy with many high profile clients. I had no idea about the industry at the time and had only briefly read their website to gain some background knowledge. But, after my initial interview I was offered a second interview which I immediately accepted and then was offered the job.
During my three month internship I worked in the Planning and Analytics Team. I was immediately given client work to complete and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. Also, because my employer is a relatively small company I felt as though my work was appreciated and everyone was very supportive. After the internship was complete, I was offered a full-time position as an analyst and I have continued to develop my skill set. I have been trained to use a number of different tools, including, FastStats, MapInfo, TGI and Radian6. These tools cover a range of different aspects relevant to planning and analysis – marketing analytics, drive time analysis, market research and social media monitoring.
I would urge anyone struggling to get a job or unsure about what industry they want to go into to take on an internship because the experience on your CV is crucial and if you’re lucky, it may lead you straight into a job!
”- Rachel Blaney
Marketing Analyst, University Of York, January 2012 “
When my grad job wasn't going the way I wanted it to, I decided to go back on a job hunt and came across Inspiring Interns. Three days later I was accepted for a position through one of their placements. Inspiring Interns helped me to realise my potential and they really do all they can to get you into a great company!
”- Sebastian Atkinson
Digital Marketing Executive, University Of East Anglia, January 2012
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