As a first year psychology student, I found it extremely
hard for me to find an internship, left alone a degree-related one, since there
is so few out there. When I was desperately searching, I came across BirminghamUndergraduate Internship Programme (BUIP) on the Careers Network work
experience website. I was surprised but excited by the fact that it was campus-based,
paid, and most importantly, open to first year students.
Coming from China, I
didn’t really know much about the British higher education system, so I
thought, why not gave it a try? With slim hope but huge curiosity, I applied for
four of the eleven positions and eventually got the chance to work for Careers
Network as an International Employer Liaison Assistant (Hong Kong and
Singapore).
In contrary to what I assumed, I was actually given my own
independent project to manage instead of dealing with random trivia that no one
else cares enough to do. My major responsibility is to source internships and
graduate opportunities based in Hong Kong and Singapore and the main purpose of
the internship is to lay a foundation for the permanent post which is going
takeover once I finished.
My internship began with a massive amount of market research
for background information including popular courses studied by students from
Hong Kong and Singapore, subject rankings of the university in various national
and international league tables, top industries and corresponding employers in
both regions etc.
The other part of the research I conducted is competitor
analysis. I identified the position of the university among our 8 key
competitors including other members of the Russell Group such as University of
Warwick and University of Manchester. I suggested potential improvements
including linking languages courses to suitable oversea opportunities and establishing
bursaries for postgraduate students.
The next stage of my work is department liaison which
includes connecting with teams within Careers Network as well as external ones,
for example, I worked closely with the Development and Alumni Relations Office
(DARO), which leads to my work on alumni liaison. I produced a questionnaire on
SurveyMonkey which will be sent out to targeted alumni in both Hong Kong and
Singapore and appear on alumni newsletters and social media platforms, such as
alumni LinkedIn groups. I learned to conduct survey and deal with data using
social science research methods. I am also able to identify the gap within a
service and provide reasonable suggestions.
The most important part of my internship, which you can
guess from the job title, is employer liaison. I started from employers who we
have already had relationships with in the past, and then by utilising the
results of the market research, I chose to focus on the legal industry.
Communication skills, both spoken and written, were required extensively. I had
meetings with staff members across the campus and contacted employers around
the globe by both emails and phone calls which made me more comfortable and
confident conversing with a diverse population. I also developed the novel
skill of liaising with external stakeholders which I never got the chance to acquire
from any of my previous experiences.
In summary, I have sent 192 initial emails to 128 employers
in which 24 replied and 3 requested follow-up phone calls. Eventually, I
sourced 23 opportunities from 5 employers. As you can see, despite the huge
effort I have put into this task, the turn-out was not particularly positive
and the struggle was real. Most employers never replied while some did at first,
but then just disappeared half way through the conversation. I was very
frustrated at first but after consulting with the internship officers, I
realised that it takes time and patience to build relationships with employers.
My problem-solving skills improved immensely during the process. Last but not
least, I have started two canvas courses which are dedicated to Hong Kong and
Singapore students returning home and those planning to move there after
graduation.
The biggest challenge I faced during my internship is
definitely the absence of my line manager, Ellen, due to an emergency operation
she had to undergo. She was not on call for four weeks and two days, which was
more than half of my eight-week internship. I overcame this challenge by
working independently using initiative and be self-motivating. I set my own
goals and plan my own schedules to work towards the target. When there are
problems that I am not familiar with, I try to come up solutions myself but
also seek for help from other colleagues. I learned to manage my time
efficiently and produce the best outcome. The UK has got a seven-hour time
difference to Hong Kong and six to Singapore which results in a two-hour
overlap between the regular working times. Since most of my contacts were based
over Asia, I needed to adjust my timetable accordingly to make the most of limited
time window. I always use the first two
hours of my day to reply to emails from employers and make phone calls while
leaving the other tasks to the rest of the day. My flexible approach towards working
was deemed to be substantial and effective.
Over the past eight weeks, I can see a gradual change in my
impression of the higher education system and my prospect on working within a
higher education institute. My expectation had always been overwhelming
academic-oriented, which I believe is similar to the idea possessed by the
general public, but now I see that there is so much more behind the scene. It
is an extraordinarily systematic complex built up by the academia circle and
numerous supporting services that are not only important, but essential, for
the operation of a successful institute. I believe every student and graduate
should consider higher education as a potential career pathway. It was a great
experience for me and I truly learned a lot during the process. I love the
dynamics of the Careers Network team and I am thankful for everyone who has
helped and supported me towards my work and throughout my internship. I feel so
lucky that I was given the chance to be a BUIP intern and it is my greatest
honour to undertake my first internship at Careers Network.
At the end, I just want to say that it is never too early to
think about employability. It is hard to find suitable internships for first
years but not impossible. The university offers some unique schemes with
precious opportunities, not only BUIP, but also Global Challenge internships
and Social Enterprise internships etc. So
why not start ahead and make the most of your summer holiday?
Nina Ma
International Employer
Liaison Assistant (Hong Kong and Singapore)
Follow us on Twitter: @globaluob
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